


The Mascot - Redux

by BeChloeIsLegit



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-01 09:01:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15770892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeChloeIsLegit/pseuds/BeChloeIsLegit
Summary: The Bellas get a mascot? - Thelonewolf06 originally started the story under the title "The Mascot"; she put it up for adoption and I adopted it and completed it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is written in collaboration with Thelonewolf06. She started the story (titled "Mascot") and has allowed me to adopt it to continue it (hence, the title "Mascot-Redux"). There are some minor changes to take it in a little bit of a different direction (all with Thelonewolf06's permission of course).
> 
> A couple of quick points to make: In this story, the Bellas house was already a thing so all the Bellas live together (even Aubrey). Beca was a Sophomore and she and Chloe had been a couple since they met.
> 
> We hope you enjoy it.

 

"No, Chloe," Aubrey said firmly, looking at the scruffy German Shepherd sitting at Chloe's feet.

"But, Bree, she's cute and homeless," Chloe said cooing at the dog. "We should adopt her."

"He's scruffy and dirty," Aubrey said. "And, I don't know how, but that dog looks too alternative for us."

"First of all, he is a she," Chloe said. "She's a girl. Second, all she needs is a bath and maybe a haircut. Third, when I went to the pet shop the plaid collar suited her the most."

"Oh, so you've already decided we are keeping HER then?," Aubrey said, glaring at the dog skeptically. She swears the dog was glaring right back at her.

"Yes, she can be the Bellas new mascot," Chloe said. "We can get her a Bellas scarf to go around her neck and-"

"Chloe, have you even asked everyone else what they think of this?," Aubrey said grasping for a reason for the dog not to stay. "We do live in a shared household."

"We can have a vote on it tonight," Chloe said.

Chloe was confident the vote would go her way. Aubrey was hoping for a different outcome. Once all the Bellas were home, Chloe clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.

"So," Chloe said. "I have something very important that we need to vote on today."

"What is it, ginger?," Fat Amy called out.

"Well, Amy, I have an important person for all of you to meet," Chloe said walking over to the door and opening it.

"Have you found yourself a girlfriend, Chloe?," Stacie asked suggestively.

"You know I could never," Chloe started and then took a deep breath and let it out. "As I was going to say, I'd like you all to meet the new Bellas mascot."

Chloe was waving her hands around for dramatic effect as the dog came slinking through the door. None of Chloe's dramatics was necessary because as soon as they caught sight of the dog, the Bellas all squealed with excitement.

"Can I pet her?," Emily asked.

She was excitedly bouncing up and down in her seat, doing everything she could to keep from jumping and smothering the navy eyed dog with affection.

"You can after the vote," Chloe said patiently.

"What's the vote about?," Stacie asked. "We're keeping. . ."

"Her," Chloe added helpfully.

"Yeah, the dog has style, and she is rocking that collar," CR said.

"So, it's settled," Chloe said. "We're voting yes to keep our new mascot?"

"Yes," all the Bellas chorus in harmony.

"Wait," Aubrey spoke for the first time. "You can't sing _ahh_ in harmony on three, but you can sing yes without practice?"

"Um," Emily says raising her hand, ignoring Aubrey. "What's her name?"

"Since she now belongs to all of us," Chloe said nervously knowing there would be some arguing. "I thought we could name her together."

"Amy Junior," Amy immediately says.

"How about Bella," CR suggests. "You know, cause she's the Bellas mascot."

"Won't that get confusing?," Jessica asked quietly.

"How about Bee?," Emily suggests. "Like B for Bellas."

The Bellas all nodded their heads in agreement, but it was a bark from the dog herself that finalized the decision to call her Bee.

"Okay, ladies," Chloe said cheerfully. "Bee it is."

Aubrey left to go to her room, not that anyone noticed. The rest of the Bellas were too busy showering Bee with affection. Bee accepted the attention with aloofness, acting as if she wasn't enjoying it. That was until Chloe scratched a certain spot behind her ear and her tail betrayed her enjoyment.

The next morning, Aubrey glared at the dog sitting in her usual spot. Aubrey growled, but Bee didn't even look up as she was quite content where she was.

"Chloe!," Aubrey yelled. "The mutt is in my spot!"

"Her name is Bee, Bree," Chloe said. "You don't like it when people call you Audrey."

"That's because that's not my name," Aubrey said in frustration.

"Well, 'mutt' isn't Bee's name, so she won't respond to it," Chloe said.

"We don't even know her real name," Aubrey said. "It could be 'alt dog' for all we know."

Aubrey was irritated that Chloe had made a valid point on why Bee wouldn't listen to her.

"What makes her 'alternative', Aubrey?," Chloe asked in confusion.

"How can you not see it?," Aubrey says. "The plaid collar. The hole in her ear. She even looks like she's wearing eyeliner."

"It's not her fault she has a hole in her ear, Aubrey," Chloe said. "Maybe someone did it to her in her old home."

Chloe gently scratched Bee behind the ear much to the dog's enjoyment.

"Fine!," Aubrey exclaimed. "I'll just sit in my room on my own then. Some friend you turned out to be."

Aubrey stormed off, slamming the door to her room.

"Don't worry, Bee," Chloe whispered. "She will like you eventually. She just doesn't like change."

Giving Bee one last pat on the head, Chloe wandered off, missing the look of contemplation in Bee's eyes.

The next day at Bellas practice, the girls weren't very focused.

"Okay, we're going to try this again without any distractions," Aubrey said as she momentarily stared off into space before her mask came back up.

"Aubrey," Chloe said nervously as she stood with the Bellas. "We, um, we've been meaning to ask you something."

"What is it Chloe?," Aubrey asked. "And, make it quick. This group needs a lot of work if we expect to win."

"Well, um, could we maybe change the setlist?," Chloe asked and was quick to add. "Not that it isn't great now. But, maybe we could make it more modern or mix it up just like Be-"

"The set list is fine, Chloe," Aubrey interrupted. "We are not straying from tradition."

Bee, who had curled up under the piano as soon as Chloe let her in, laid there looking bored while quietly observing them. That was until "I Saw the Sign" started. Bee began howling, almost as if she was in pain, causing several of the Bellas to jump in surprise. Emily tripped over her own feet from the sudden howling.

"In my country, that dog would be shot," Flo mumbled under her breath.

As soon as Bee noticed the singing had stopped, she did too.

"Chloe!," Aubrey said frustrated at the interruption. "If we are going to allow that thing to be in here during rehearsal, make sure it is kept quiet."

"Looks like Bee doesn't like signs," Amy snickered.

"Let's try this again," Aubrey said bringing the focus back to rehearsal.

When they started again so did the howling. This happened three more times until Aubrey gave up, storming out and calling back that "Bee is banned from future rehearsals." As soon as Aubrey was out of earshot, the Bellas started cheering, thankful that they had escaped rehearsal that day.

As they left, they each gave Bee a pat on the head or a scratch behind the ear. Emily even produced a treat from her bag to give to her. Chloe, however, looked troubled and sat down with her head in her hands. Bee gently put her head on Chloe's lap.

"What can I do, Bee?," Chloe asked as she pets the dog's head. "You're a dog, and even you hate the set list. And, even if Aubrey said we could change it, we have nothing to change it to."

Chloe sat there in silence, just thinking about what they could do.

"Oh well," Chloe said with a sigh. "Let's go home, Bee. Thank you for listening. You know you're a good listener. Just like someone I used to know."

Chloe walked to the door with a sad smile on her face. She expected Bee to follow her home as she had before, but as soon as Bee got outside, she took off, ignoring Chloe's cries for her to come back.

The Bellas were shocked to find out that Bee had run off. Chloe was especially saddened to lose yet another friend who had been with them for such a short time. They were sitting around the Bellas living room when they heard scratching at the door. The Bellas perked up hoping this meant that Bee had come back.

Chloe ran to the door and flung it open. Bee came trotting in, and Chloe fell to her knees and grabbed her in a hug. The rest of the Bellas ran over and greeted Bee as well. Bee took all the affection and then dropped what she had been holding in her mouth on the floor in front of Chloe.

"What's this, Bee?," Chloe asked reaching down and picking up a USB thumb drive.

Bee just sat down, looking as smug as a dog can, with an almost smirk crossing her muzzle. Chloe plugged the USB drive into her laptop and clicked on the sound file it contained. Instantly the opening notes of "Just the Way You Are" started. The Bellas looked confused until "Just a Dream" started and both songs blended really well. They started tapping their feet and humming along. None of them noticed that Bee's tail was wagging in time to the beat of the song. When the song finished, all the Bellas stood looking at each other in confusion.

"Where did it come from?," Stacy wondered out loud.

"Maybe someone's boyfriend sent it as a romantic gesture," Emily suggested jumping up and down slightly at the thought of someone being that romantic.

"I don't know about anyone else," CR said thoughtfully. "But I don't know anyone talented enough to produce something as good as that."

"Maybe we could use it for our set list," Chloe said hopefully, looking at Aubrey who had so far been observing everyone else.

"No, absolutely not, Chloe," Aubrey said. "It might be a prank by the Trebles to get us disqualified."

"You really think they would do something like that?," Jessica asked.

"They're the Trebles, Jessica," Aubrey said. "They will stop at nothing to take us down. Plus, they haven't done anything in a while. I have a feeling they are planning something big."

"Don't worry, Em," Chloe said trying to reassure the young girl, who was looking quite distressed by this information.

"Yeah, Legacy," Fat Amy jumped in. "It will most likely be against Chloe or Aubrey since they're the Captains. Or me, because I like to antagonize Bumper."

Amy then winked creepily at Emily who looked even more distressed than before.

"Okay, on that note," Aubrey said getting the Bellas attention. "We're done. I believe we all have some studying to do. Get to it, or we can go rehearse some more."

All of the Bellas disappeared quickly not wanting to do extra rehearsals. The only ones left were Emily and Bee. Emily quietly got her homework out taking advantage of the quiet. Bee curled up next to her on the sofa, looking strangely disappointed before she went to sleep.

Bee opened her eyes when she a muffled scream. Her head came up, and she saw Emily being dragged out by maroon-clad figures. Bee jumped up and followed the group getting outside in time to see them toss Emily in the pool and run away high-fiving each other and snickering. Bee started to go after them when she realized that Emily was struggling to get to the surface and then went limp. Bee instantly jumped into the pool. She grabbed onto Emily's shirt and dragged her limp form to the steps of the pool and laid her so that her torso was out of the water.

Bee sensed that Emily wasn't breathing and started barking and howling an ear-splitting howl to get the Bellas attention. All the Bellas ran out to see what was going on and saw Emily laying face down on the edge of the pool. CR and Stacie quickly pulled her all the way out of the water and laid her on her back. Flo started CPR trying to revive Emily while Chloe dragged Bee away to give Flo space. It wasn't long before Emily coughed up the water she had swallowed. The Bellas gave a collective sigh of relief and patted Flo on the back. Once Emily was coherent and breathing sufficiently, the questions started.

"Who did this to you?!," Chloe asked face red with anger.

Chloe rarely got mad, but when she did none of the Bellas wanted her anger directed at them.

"It was the Trebles," Emily said with a shaky breath.

"What?!," Aubrey growled, but even she didn't match the sound of Bee's growling.

Bee then took off towards the Trebles house with Chloe running after her. She didn't want to stop her; she just wanted to prevent Bee from getting into trouble or hurt. The Trebles were laughing and slapping each other's backs from a prank well done. That was until a feral dog burst in through the back door making several of the Trebles scream. Chloe was right behind Bee and grabbed at her, taking hold of Bee's collar.

"What is the meaning of this?," Bumper asked after he had stopped screaming.

"Your little prank today almost killed Emily," Chloe said glaring at the Trebles.

"Look, Chloe, I'm sure we didn't do whatever you think we did," Jesse said holding his hands up.

"Cut the nice guy act, Jesse," Chloe spat out. "Nobody's buying it."

Bee clearly didn't trust Jesse and stood between him and Chloe. Bee started growling louder as Jesse got closer.

"Look, why don't you call off the mutt and we can work this out," Bumper said in an arrogant tone.

"I don't think so, Bumper," Aubrey said from where she was standing near the door. "You broke into the Bellas house, you kidnapped Emily, and you threw Emily into the pool causing her to almost drown. I think we have enough to have you all kicked out of Barden and the Trebles disbanded. But, unlike you, the Bellas are going to win Nationals fair and square. We're not going to have it handed to us because of problems another team is having. So, here's what's going to happen. We won't call the police, but you're going to apologize to Emily and then leave the Bellas alone."

"And if we don't?," Jesse asked in a cocky tone having dropped the nice guy act.

"If you don't," Aubrey said with a smug smile. "I'll have Bee here rip out your vocal cords and then we'll turn you into the police."

Bee gave a strong growl to back up Aubrey's words. Several of the trebles gulped loudly and clutched their throats. Some of them just scoffed, until Bee snarled at them. She had drool dripping from her mouth, which made for a very intimidating site, and convinced the Trebles that Aubrey was serious.

"Well, now that is cleared up," Aubrey said with another smug smile. "We'll just be going."

Aubrey gently took hold of Bee's collar and led her from the Treble house. Chloe trailed behind in slight shock. Once they got back to the yard of the Bella house, Aubrey crouched in front of Bee and gently scratched under her chin.

"Thank you, Bee," Aubrey said. "I think I judged you wrong. You are just as protective of the Bellas as I am and that is admirable."

She stood up and brushed herself off. She quickly left Bee and hurried into the house.

"Wow, Bee," Chloe whispered. "You managed to get Aubrey to like you. Better yet, you got her to respect you. By the way, that display in front of the Trebles was pretty badass."

Chloe winked at Bee and headed into the house with Bee trotting after her with her tail wagging.

The Bellas were sitting around the living room. Emily had changed her clothes, and Stacie was holding her in her arms, comforting her.

"We have to do something," Stacie said.

"Yeah, get revenge," CR said.

This was the first thing Aubrey and Chloe heard when they got back to the to the house.

"Bear traps," Amy said loudly.

"We can't retaliate," Aubrey said interrupting. "I wouldn't put it past Bumper and Jesse to turn this around on us and get us disqualified."

"I hate Jesse," Stacie said angrily. "I have ever since what he did to-" Stacie's voice trailed off when she saw Chloe's devastated face.

"What did he do?" Emily asked looking at each of the Bellas suddenly sad faces.

Flo was also confused as she and Emily had just joined the Bellas and didn't know what they were talking about.

"It was all my fault," Aubrey said with a heavy sigh laced with sadness.

"No, it wasn't, Bree," Chloe said firmly. "It was all of us. None of us stood up for her that night, and we should have. Especially me."

"Sooo, what actually happened?," Flo asked cautiously.

"We kind of turned on a really good friend," Aubrey said sadly. "She changed the set to help us, but it threw us off. The last thing I said to her was that she wasn't a Bella."

"What does Jesse have to do with that?," Emily asked quietly.

"He was one of Beca's best friends," Aubrey said. "He got really angry at her changing the set for some reason. He started yelling at her backstage, and none of us tried to stop him. None of us tried to defend her. I even remember thinking she deserved to be yelled at. So she ran away because her so-called friends had just allowed it all to happen."

"Well didn't she also abandon you guys?," Flo asked. "I mean she isn't here now."

"She isn't here now because she was murdered on the way home from the competition, that we drove her away from," Aubrey said quietly.

"What did Jesse say to her?," Emily asked.

"We don't really know," Stacie said. "We kept our distance from them. At one point she looked over at us and then just turned and walked away."

"We were told that as she was walking home, she saw two men fighting," Aubrey said. "She tried to break it up, but, for some reason, both guys turned their anger on her. She didn't stand a chance against the two of them."

Aubrey finished her story quietly with tears in her eyes. She was barely holding back the sobs that were threatening to come out.

"Stop blaming yourself, Bree," Chloe said through her tears. "She had always wanted to go to L.A. to produce music. But her father wouldn't let her. He wanted her to go to college first. He made a deal with her that she had to attend for one year and join a club. And then if after the year she still wanted to go, he'd help her. If she hadn't been forced to be here, she would have been in L.A. So; we can blame her father. Or we can blame the bus system that wasn't running that late, so she was forced to walk back to the hotel. Or, we can blame-"

Chloe let out a sob, and Aubrey pulled her into a hug.

"What was her name?," Emily asked quietly, looking around at the Bellas.

All the Bellas had tears running down their faces. Chloe tears were falling hard and fast.

"Her name," Chloe said through her tears. "Was Beca Mitchell and I loved her more than anything. And I didn't do anything to stop her from walking away that night. I'll have to live with that for the rest of my life."


	2. Chapter 2

The Bellas were shocked that Chloe had managed to say Beca's name. It was the first time she had said Beca's name since the funeral.

"We came in third that night," CR continued. "And, we found out that the team that placed second was disqualified, so we got a second chance to compete last year at Nationals. We were terrible and lost because none of us could even think of singing without Beca."

"Aubrey and I failed last year," Chloe said. "We both missed so much because of what happened with Beca. We weren't even going to continue the Bellas this year. But, Jesse's smug face and the fact that we practically handed the trophy to the Trebles spurred us on."

"And that is why we have to win this year," Aubrey said. "If not for us, then for Beca. We would change the setlist but what could we change it to?"

While the Bellas all thought about what they could change their setlist too, none of them noticed the slow tear slowly crawling down Bee's face. Determination set in and Bee decided she was going to help the group that didn't hate Beca after all.

"Why don't we use the mix Bee brought us?," Chloe suggested.

"We can't Chloe," Aubrey said somewhat deflated. "We don't even know where it came from. The person who owns it might not want us to use it."

Bee got up and started scratching at the front door.

"What gotten into her?," Stacy wondered out loud.

Chloe knew that Bee wanted to go out, so she opened the door for her.

"Chloe you just let her go?," Emily asked sadly as she watched Bee run out of the door.

"She'll come back," Chloe stated confidently. "She was a free dog after all. She just needs space where she can be free to do what she wants."

"Where did you even find her?," Aubrey asked.

"It was really strange, but I found her at Beca's grave," Chloe said. "I went to visit, and there she was just sitting there. She seemed happy to see me, and I thought she had been abandoned there or something."

"Why is that strange?," Emily asked.

"Well, why would Bee be in the cemetery?," Chloe pointed out. "And at Beca's grave of all places?"

"Did Beca have a dog?," Aubrey asked. "Maybe it's hers."

"No," Chloe said. "She told me the only pet she ever had was a goldfish called Shark."

"That's such an alt name," Aubrey muttered under her breath.

"When do you think Bee will come back?," Emily piped up.

She had been really shaken up from the events earlier that day, and Bee calmed her down. Now that Bee was gone, Emily looked nervous and afraid again. The Bellas all seemed concerned about Bee's whereabouts, but Chloe just looked distracted.

"I'm just gonna go to my room," Chloe whispered tears making her voice crack.

She then ran off upstairs to Beca's old room where she had been sleeping.

"Was it something I said?," Emily asked looking after Chloe sadly.

"No, Em," Aubrey said. "It's just all this talk of Beca upsets her. But that doesn't mean we should stop talking about Beca, because the good times deserve to be remembered."

Aubrey then got up and went after Chloe leaving the Bellas in contemplative silence.

Across town, Bee snuck into a house through the broken window in the basement. She waited to make sure she didn't hear anyone and made her way to a specific room, where she sniffed around some USB drives and found the one she wanted. She then jumped up so she could reach the computer sitting on the desk. It took several tries, but she managed to get the computer turned on and type out a message before printing it. She grabbed the note from the printer and through several tries wrapped the USB drive in the note. She then picked it up with her mouth. She snuck out of the house the same way she came in and ran off to the Bellas house. Bee was exhausted and decided it was time to turn in for the night.

Everyone in the Bella house had gone to bed after a tiring and emotional day. Emily was tossing and turning in the throes of a nightmare. Bee hadn't saved her in time, and just as she was about to scream, she felt a warm presence beside her. She snuggled into Bee, content in knowing that her protector was back.

Emily's dream continued, however, it changed from the pool outside of the Bella house to the abandoned one just on the edge of campus.

_Emily looked around nervously, afraid that this was another nightmare when she suddenly heard what sounded like the tapping. She went to investigate and found a girl tapping a beat out on the edge of the pool using a yellow plastic cup. The girl looked up and seemed startled to see Emily there._

_"Um, hi,?" Emily said nervously while looking at the girl._

_"Hi, Emily," the girl said. "It's nice to meet you properly."_

_The girl jumped down from the edge of the pool._

_"I'm sorry, but do I know you?," Emily squinted trying to figure out where she had seen this girl before._

_"Oh, I'm sorry," the girl said. "I forget that you didn't know me before, um, well, that doesn't matter now. My name is Beca Mitchell."_

_"Wait that's impossible you're-"_

_"Dead?" Beca cut in. "Trust me, I know that's what everyone thinks. But, I'm not really sure I believe it. Because if I were dead, that means I'm a ghost. But, no matter. I feel like there is something I'm supposed to do and then everything will make sense."_

_"Like, unfinished business?," Emily asked._

_"Exactly," Beca said with a frown. "Only I don't know what my unfinished business is."_

_"Well, maybe you should just do what you would've done had you been alive," Emily suggested with a smile. "And you might end up doing what you're supposed to do."_

_"That could work," Beca said. "Thanks, baby Bella."_

_Beca gave her a playful wink._

_"You know I'm a Bella?," Emily asked somewhat confused. "I only joined this year. How could you know that?"_

_"Trust me, Emily," Beca said with a wink. "I'm closer than you think."_

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

The dream faded away as Emily started waking up. The Last thing she heard was Beca shouting "look after Chloe for me."

Emily woke up with a gasp looking around confused. "Well, that was weird," Emily thought to herself. She then became aware of a presence beside her. Emily looked at Bee who looked back with the same intensely familiar navy eyes twinkling and a smirk lingering on her mouth. Emily let out a gasp when she realized just how truthful Beca was when she said she was closer than she thought.

"Beca?," Emily whispered to the dog feeling like a lunatic as she did so.

The dog just gave a very obvious wink back and walked out of the room. Emily stared after the dog, lost in her thoughts. Chloe saw that Emily was awake and came into her room, holding two yellow cups.

"What's up, Emily?," Chloe asked, cheerfully back to her usual mask of sunshine and happiness.

Emily looked up from her thoughts, shocked that someone was talking to her.

"Um, nothing, Chloe," Emily said somewhat distracted. "Do you know where Bee went? I have to tal... I mean, I want to train her."

"Really?," Chloe said with a pout. "I was going to teach you something."

Chloe put the yellow cups she was holding down by her side. Emily stared at the cups.

"They look like the cup Beca had in my dream," Emily thought to herself.

"Really?," Emily asked Chloe. "What did you want to teach me?"

"The cup song," Chloe said holding up the cups. "Beca taught it to all the Bellas. Even Aubrey knows how to do it."

"So how do you do it?," Emily asked, and Chloe handed her a cup.

"First, place the cup upside down. Then you start with two taps to the bottom of the cup. . ."

Aubrey was tying her shoelaces ready for her run when she noticed Bee was sitting and watching her with intelligent eyes.

"What?," Aubrey asked the dog and swears Bee rolled her eyes.

Bee then came closer and put a muddy piece of paper on Aubrey's lap.

"Ewww," Aubrey yelled. "I don't want your chew toy!"

Aubrey picked up the paper using only two fingers and noticed there was writing on the paper. She opened it up and the USB drive fell out.

**_"Bellas,_ **

**_This USB is for  u to use in finals  listed below is who shld sing whaaat part. I own the mix and gift it to the Bellas. I believe they can win with it._ **

**_Love, B"_ **

"What the hell," Aubrey muttered to herself.

She reached down and picked up the USB drive. She then blew the pitch pipe around her neck loudly, signifying to the rest of the Bellas that she was calling a group meeting. The Bellas assembled quickly in the living room looking at each other wondering what the meeting is about.

"It seems someone is trying to help the Bellas," Aubrey announced as she put the USB drive in her laptop.

"Told you," Chloe said smugly sticking her tongue out at Aubrey.

"Let's not get too excited, Chloe," Aubrey cautioned.

Aubrey then hit play on the laptop. The Bellas listened carefully to the mix which featured a mix of songs from different genres and time periods. Chloe let out a gasp when "Don't You Forget About Me" started playing. It was from "The Breakfast Club," the last movie she forced Beca into watching.

When the mix finished, Aubrey then read out the list of who should have what parts. The Bellas had all been assigned specific parts and they were all quite happy with them.

"So who do you think gave us this mix, Aubrey?," Stacy asked.

"I don't know," Aubrey said. "The letter was just signed with the letter B."

Aubrey passed the letter around so the Bellas could all read it.

"So are we using the mix?," CR asked Aubrey.

"Well, I wanted to win for Beca," Aubrey said. "This gives us the best chance at winning, so I say we use it."

The Bellas let out a cheer. Aubrey struggled to tell them the meeting was over because of the loudness. Aubrey walked out knowing the Bellas would know the meeting was over if she left.

Aubrey again started preparing for the run she was distracted from and Bee was again watching her. Bee followed Aubrey out to the front garden. Aubrey started doing her warm-up stretches before taking off jogging. Bee not expecting the suddenness of her decision to start running had to sprint after her, but as soon as she caught up, she started trotting at Aubrey's side. Not long into their run, a guy stood in Aubrey's path stopping her.

"What do you want, Brad?," Aubrey asked.

Bee could send that she was angry but also a bit nervous of the guy. This made Bee wary of him, too.

"Aubrey, you haven't answered any of my calls," Brad said. "I told you I was sorry didn't I?"

"I told you, Brad," Aubrey said. "I would never stay in another abusive relationship, not after my father."

"I only hit you once," Brad sneered. "And if you weren't so busy being a frigid bitch, puking all the time, and maybe put out once in a while, I wouldn't have hit you."

Aubrey's confidence seemed to deflate out of her and she stepped back away from Brad. She didn't speak until she felt the furry body of Bee by her side. Bee gave her confidence knowing she was protected.

"No, Brad," Aubrey said. "You can't talk down to me or treat me like you did. I had enough of being verbally put down by my father. So, goodbye Brad."

Aubrey turned and started walking away. Brad made to follow but saw Bee's hackles up and heard her growling. He put his hands up, rolled his eyes, and walked away in the opposite direction. Bee followed Aubrey who was now sprinting to the beach. As soon as Aubrey reached the beach, she collapsed into sobs. Bee sat next to her, nuzzling her face while trying to comfort her and dry her tears.

"My life is awful, Bee," Aubrey sobbed. "My father has disowned me because I finally stood up to him. That jerk we just met was the reason I couldn't go to Beca's funeral. He gave me a black eye and I didn't want to cause any drama. And, now my best friend hates me because I wasn't there for her. And, I think I'm in love with her."

Bee just stared at Aubrey because what could she do? She was just a dog.

"The worst thing about all of this is," Aubrey says. "Is that no matter what Chloe says, I still feel guilty about what happened to Beca. I was the one who shouted at Beca and made her leave the competition. She wouldn't have left if I had just listened to her in the first place."

Bee could see she looked genuinely haunted by the events that night. She didn't have a clue how to comfort Aubrey, even if she could talk.

"I wish I could see her again," Aubrey said through her tears. "I just want to apologize to her. Apologize for what I said at the competition, apologize for missing her funeral. But, really to apologize for falling in love with Chloe. I feel like I'm disrespecting Beca's memory."

The tears continued streaming down Aubrey's face. She looked pale and resigned to what was happening. After 20 more minutes of crying and petting Bee, who was cuddled up to her trying to be comforting, Aubrey stood up and brushed herself off.

"Thank you, Bee, for listening," Aubrey said with a small smile. "Not that you had a choice, but thank you anyway."

Aubrey then stretched and started the long jog home, Bee following her all the way. Aubrey was tired from the emotional breakdown. When she got back, she informed Chloe to wake her if there was an emergency and then went to bed. She was somewhat restless and started dreaming.

_Aubrey looked around confused. She usually had nightmares about the night Beca died, but this didn't seem like a nightmare as she was in the abandoned pool at the edge of campus._

_"Hey, Aubrey," Emily called from across the pool._

_A small figure stood in the shadows near Emily._

_"Emily?," Aubrey said walking towards the pair. "What are you doing here?"_

_"This is great," Emily said, bouncing up and down excitedly. "I finally have someone to talk to about all this."_

_"This is a weird dream," Aubrey thought to herself._

_"Who's your friend, Emily?," Aubrey asked looking at the silent figure standing in the shadows._

_"I'm hurt, Posen," Beca smirked. "Don't you recognize me?"_

_Beca walked out of the shadows. What Beca wasn't expecting was for Aubrey to fall to her knees and break down apologizing repeatedly._

_"Whoa, Aubrey, it's alright," Beca reassured patting her back awkwardly._

_Aubrey just pulled Beca down and hugged her crying into her shoulder._

_"What's the matter with her, Beca?," Emily asked alarmed._

_Beca ignored Emily for now, focusing all her attention on Aubrey._

_"Aubrey it's alright," Beca said softly. "It wasn't your fault. I chose to walk away and I chose to get involved with those two guys who were fighting, not you."_

_Aubrey eventually stopped crying and looked into Beca's eyes for any blame or anger but found none._

_"How did you even know that's why I was crying, Mitchell?," Aubrey asked, looking at Beca a bit confused._

_"Oh, I have my sources," Beca said with a wink._

_"She means Bee," Emily said trying to be helpful but shrinking back from Beca's glare._

_"Emily," Beca said with narrowed eyes. "I was trying to be mysterious."_

_"Oh, I get it," Emily said and then whispered to Aubrey. "Just pretend you didn't hear that."_

_Both Beca and Emily were oblivious to Aubrey's horrified face._

_"Wait," Aubrey said. "You mean you heard my conversation with Bee on the beach earlier?"_

_"Oh, um, yes?," Beca said as a question. "But don't worry I'm not mad about you thinking you're in love with Chloe or missing my funeral and leaving Chloe to go through it alone. She had the Bellas around her. And, I'm guessing she doesn't know the real reason why, but I do, and I forgive you."_

_"How can you not be mad?," Aubrey asked getting frustrated. "I am in love with your girlfriend. Plus, we promised each other that one of us would always be there to take care of Chloe."_

_"Yes, we did," Beca said. "But, I don't think you're really in love with Chloe. I think you're in love with how she needs you. I've seen the way you look at her and it's friendship love, not love love. On the other hand, you do look at Stacie with love love. So, don't beat yourself up over it. As for my funeral, you were trying to protect Chloe and everyone else from more unnecessary drama. I know that you would have been there if you could. Just promise me, that you will be there for Chloe from now on and we're good."_

_"I promise," Aubrey rushed to reassure Beca. "Chloe still misses you so much. And, I think she secretly hates me for missing your funeral."_

_"She could never hate you, Aubrey," Beca said. "Even if she did, I'm sure if you told her the reason why you missed it she would forgive you."_

_"I don't know, Beca," Aubrey said reluctantly. "What if she thinks it wasn't a good enough reason?"_

_"She would never think that, so you're fine, Posen," Beca said firmly. "I also think you really need to take a look at how you feel about Stacie. I think you'll find that she's the one who has your heart. And, I'm not saying that because I don't want you to be with Chloe. I'm saying it because I don't want you or Chloe to be hurt by feelings that aren't real. Understand?"_

_"I do," Aubrey said. "Thank you."_

_"Can we change the subject?," Emily asked. "Because I have no idea what you are talking about."_

_"How about we start with, how are you even here?," Aubrey asked loudly as if she just realized she is actually talking to Beca._

_"Oh, you know," Beca said nonchalantly. "Unfinished business and stuff."_

_"Any idea what that is yet, Beca?," Emily asked._

_"Wait," Aubrey said looking at Beca and Emily. "How do you two know each other?"_

_"She came to me in my dream the other night," Emily said almost proudly._

_"Why Emily?," Aubrey said curiously. "And not Chloe or one of the other Bellas?"_

_"I think it takes less energy to appear to people I'm not particularly close to," Beca said. "People like Emily, who I didn't know, or you because we argued all the time."_

_"So who's next?", Aubrey asked._

_"I don't know," Beca said not looking at either of them._

_"Well, whoever it is they better use their last time with you wisely," Emily said. "Because one of them might help with your unfinished business."_

_"Yeah, maybe," Beca said not sounding too sure._

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

_"What is that?," Aubrey asked._

_"Time for you to go," Beca said. "But don't worry. We will see each other again before I go. I'll make sure of it."_

_Beca winked at Aubrey and that was the last thing she saw before she woke up._


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a strange month for the Bellas as they prepared for the Semi-Finals. It was especially strange for Emily and Aubrey, who were keeping in contact with Beca through their dreams every night.

Chloe's mood had been turning sadder and sadder as it got closer to the one year anniversary of Beca's death. The Bellas didn't know what to do to help Chloe. It seemed the only thing that could make her smile these days was Bee, who had taken to following Chloe around everywhere. Aubrey and Emily knew of course that Bee was connected to Beca, they just couldn't figure out how. Beca wouldn't tell them anything when they asked.

The Bellas won the semi-finals with "I Saw the Sign" and "Bulletproof" mixed together in a mashup. It was different, and the judges liked it. The Bellas, however, didn't sing it that way to win. They sang it that way as a tribute to Beca and to show her that she was right about everything that happened that night.

On the one year anniversary of Beca's death, the Bellas built a campfire near Beca's grave, toasted marshmallows, and had a jam session singing "Party in the USA" and the cup song. Bee seemed to be extra happy all night looking at all the Bellas with an almost smile on her face.

Chloe had brought her guitar that she hadn't played since Beca's death. That was their thing to do together, and it didn't feel the same without her there. The Bellas all went back to the bus a little after ten to give Chloe some privacy. The only one who stayed with her was Bee.

Chloe sat down next to Beca's gravestone and rested her forehead against the music notes engraved on the sides.

"It's been a year now, Becs," Chloe sighed gently tracing Beca's name with her thumb. "I miss you so much. You were my best friend as well as my girlfriend. With you gone I have no one to turn to who truly understands me. I mean, I'll see something that you would like, and I still go to tell you about it until I realize you are never going to reply back."

Tears were flowing from Chloe's cerulean blue eyes, but she had to tell Beca this.

"Remember how much I loved your singing?," Chloe continued through her tears. "I wish I had recorded it. I wish I could see your scowl and hear your sarcastic remarks again. But, most of all, I wish I could tell you I love you just one last time."

Chloe then got out her guitar that she had brought along with her and started playing a familiar tune.

"I know you can't sing along anymore, Becs," Chloe said. "But I thought you would enjoy listening to _Titanium_ one last time before I graduate and leave Barden without you."

Chloe then started playing and singing along, struggling to hit some notes because of repressed sobs. Chloe was oblivious to Bee slowly changing in the shadows, her form becoming human for just one night. Chloe didn't notice until a very familiar voice joined in with the chorus. Chloe looked up with a gasp, hoping, but not believing, that it was really Beca singing along.

"Come on, Chloe," Beca said. "Don't stop playing. We haven't reached the chorus yet, and you know how much that song really builds."

Beca smirked and gave Chloe a wink. But Chloe had forgotten all about the guitar as she shot up and tried to hug Beca. Chloe found herself on the ground looking up at Beca. Chloe was sobbing because although she could see her, she couldn't feel her.

"I'm sorry, Chloe," Beca told her. "I didn't know that was going to happen. I can touch people in dreams so I thought I'd be able to touch you if I was able to change into my human form. It's taken a lot out of me just to be able for you to see me. I wish I could touch you and hold you."

After all, Chloe wasn't the only one separated from her soul mate.

"Is it really you?," Chloe said looking into Beca's navy blue eyes.

"It is," Beca said staring into Chloe's eyes. "But, I don't know for how long. Probably only for tonight. Chloe, I just wanted you to know I was here and have been for a while now."

"But, how?," Chloe asked confused. "And, why couldn't I see you?"

"You know that dog, Bee?," Beca said. "The Bellas mascot. It's me. It's my body for when I need to be around to take care of some unfinished business."

"Unfinished business?," Chloe asked feeling somewhat hurt. "Is that why you're here? Not to see me again?"

"I think you are my unfinished business, Chloe," Beca said with a sad sigh. "I thought it was helping you win finals, but with what I have found out recently I think you're my unfinished business."

"What have you found out?," Chloe asked worried that it was something bad.

"She's going to kill me for telling you this," Beca mumbled under her breath. "Aubrey thinks she's in love with you and that you hate her because she didn't come to my funeral."

"What?, Chloe said. "Beca, I don't love Aubrey like that. I love her as my best friend, and I could never hate her."

"I know you don't love her like that," Beca said. "Aubrey is going through a lot of mixed emotions. And one of them is she's misdirecting her love for someone else onto you because you need her more. I think I made her see that she's not in love with you. But, I think she still thinks you hate her because she missed my funeral."

"Do you still love me?," Chloe asked searching Beca's eyes for the truth.

"Of course I love you, Chloe," Beca said. "I always will. And, I'll be waiting for when you join me in the far future wherever we go after this life. But right now you need someone there for you. You love so hard and absolute that it would be a tragedy for someone else not to experience it. You need to find someone because Aubrey won't be able to be there for you when she finally admits her love for Stacie. I want to make sure someone is taking care of you."

"But, I'm not ready, Beca," Chloe said. "It still feels like I just lost you and I'm not ready for anyone else."

Chloe cried because of Beca's impassioned speech.

"That's the thing about love, Chloe," Beca said. "It will wait. And once it's there, it will never fade."

"Okay, Beca," Chloe said. "I'll try, but I can't promise you anything. I just don't know if I can open my heart to any more loss."

Beca knew it was inevitable now the idea had been implemented. She also knew that Aubrey would be by Chloe's side whenever Chloe found someone else to love. Beca suddenly lets out a gasp and looked down at her body. She was changing back.

"What is it?," Chloe said worriedly. "Are you in pain?"

"I'm changing back, Chlo," Beca said. "I guess my fairy godmother only gave me until midnight."

Beca tried to make Chloe laugh with her silly joke, but it fell flat.

"I have one last wish," Chloe said reaching out for Beca.

"What is it?," Beca said. "Be quick. I don't have much time left."

Instead of asking, Chloe showed Beca by leaning in and placing her lips where Beca's were. Although she couldn't feel them, she closed her eyes and pretended that she was actually kissing Beca's lips. Chloe pulled away from Beca, her eyes still closed. When she opened them, she no longer saw a smirking human but a smirking dog.

"I don't know what you're smirking at," Chloe said with her own smirk. "You've been looking at my lips all night, so I know you wanted to see if we could kiss too."

The dog let out a huff and started walking away. Chloe scrambled to get her guitar and catch up much to the dog's amusement. Bee walked ahead of Chloe as they made their way back to the Bella bus. Bee burst out of some bushes causing the Bellas to jump. A red-faced Chloe running out just after, guitar clutched in her hand.

"I only vertical run like that when being chased by dingo's," Amy muttered.

She watched as Bee caught her breath and Chloe straightened up less out of breath due to Aubrey's rigorous cardio regime. The rest of the Bellas stared at Chloe in concern, wondering if she was truly okay after their emotional day.

"I'm fine guys," Chloe reassured them. "I think I just want to go home now and sleep so this day can be over."

After scrutinizing Chloe closely, Aubrey realized Chloe looked lighter somehow like the pain of the last year had been halved. She then glanced at Bee, laying down at Chloe's feet, looking up at her with more intense emotion in her eyes than she thought animals were capable of. Aubrey then realized that if Bee wasn't hiding how she felt for Chloe, that she must have found a way to show Chloe who she really was.

Aubrey knew she should probably feel jealous that the person she thought she loved still carried around the love of someone who was no longer with them and probably always would.  But, she actually felt relieved that Chloe was getting the closure she needed and that Beca was happy. The residual guilt from sending Beca away after semi-finals prevented her from wanting anything else for Beca even though Beca had already said it was okay.

"Maybe we should all go home," Emily said to the agreement of the Bellas.

They all piled onto the Bella bus and settled into their seats. Bee jumped up beside Chloe and laid her head on her leg which then prompted Chloe to start petting Bee's head softly. The Bellas were silent on the way home. Even Amy was quiet and not telling her outrageous stories. After all, the Bellas were feeling the pain of Beca's absence strongly and were ready for the day to be over as much as Chloe was.

When the bus pulled up to their house, some of them had to be nudged awake by Aubrey. She made it her responsibility to make sure all the Bellas got into the house and up to bed okay.

Bee had also fallen asleep on Chloe's leg. Chloe had to wake her up despite how cute she looked as the dog was just too big to carry inside. Chloe gently nudged the dog awake. Bee woke with a choked gasp and a flinch much to Chloe's concern, but when Bee seemed to shrug it off and get up, she let it go for now.

Once everyone was in the house, Aubrey closed and locked the front door while the Bellas each went to their respective bedrooms. Bee followed Chloe to sleep on her bed like she had been doing most nights since Chloe found her. It brought great comfort to Chloe who just couldn't seem to get used to sleeping alone. Before Beca died, Beca would often sleep in Chloe's room, or Chloe would sleep in Beca's room. Chloe had been sleeping in Beca's room since she died and the absence of the warm body that used to comfort her left her feeling lonely most nights. Bee brought back some of that comfort and Chloe slept better.  

The Bellas drifted off to sleep one by one. They opened their eyes to see Emily and Aubrey standing next to each other in the empty pool.

_The Bella's looked around nervously wondering if this was a nightmare after all the darkened pool wasn't the nicest of environments to dream about. The next thought they all had was, as the looked at each other curiously, were they all dreaming the same thing? Suddenly, they heard a familiar tapping that was then followed by the same tapping but was slower and seemed to sound wrong at some points. Chloe was the first to recognize the tune and rushed forward. With a gasp, the Bellas followed as they recognized the tune as the cup song. When they came to the brighter part of the pool, they saw something strange but amazing._

_There was Beca, with a yellow cup, slowly tapping out the beat and then gesturing for Emily to try. Emily slowly tapped out the beat, still messing up sometimes by forgetting to add two claps or tapping too many beats on the floor with the cup. Aubrey sat on the edge of the pool nearby watching them with a content smile. It was Amy who disturbed the peaceful scene by shrieking Beca's name and barrelling forward. Beca had just enough time to stand up before she was crushed into a hug. The rest of the Bellas soon followed and gathered into a massive group hug. Aubrey and Emily stood back and watched as the Bella's reassured themselves and each other that Beca was actually there. Once they had all calmed down, they reluctantly released Beca who seemed to be as shocked as them to see each other again._

_After the group released Beca, she walked over to Chloe. With a tear in her eye, Chloe pulled Beca into a hug and held on like she never wanted to let go. Beca hugged her back. After a couple of minutes, Beca pulled back and hesitantly leaned in to kiss Chloe. Their lips touched, and Chloe let out a sob._

_"I didn't think my kisses were that bad, Beale," Beca teased._

_Chloe laughed through her tears and grabbed Beca in another kiss. This one lasted until Emily coughed loud enough to make them pull apart._

_"How are you here right now?," CR asked looking at Beca like_ _she would disappear_ _if she took her eyes off her._

_"Um, I don't actually know," Beca said. "I thought I was not allowed to see any of you again. After I saw Chloe, I really thought that I had completed my mission and could move on, but I guess not."_

_Beca looked over at Aubrey and Stacie standing side by side. They seemed to be having a quiet conversation, and Beca hoped it was about what she thought it was about. After all, she wanted Aubrey to have someone to love since she didn't get much from her family growing up._

_"Who cares how she's here," Amy said. "All that matters is that we get to the see the big BM again."_

_The rest of the Bellas all nodded in agreement._

_"Tell them about Bee," Emily blurts out, immediately covering her mouth with her hands to keep herself from having any more outbursts._

_"What about Bee?," Cynthia Rose asked suspiciously looking at Emily then looking at Beca for an explanation._

_"Well, I'm sort of her," Beca said. "I mean it's like my mind is in the dog's body."_

_Unexpectedly, Jessica burst into laughter at the confusion of the other Bellas. She got herself under control._

_"You're so small, and you turned into that giant scary dog?," Jessica said before laughing again._

_This made all of the Bellas laugh particularly at Beca's unimpressed face. Even Stacie and Aubrey who had just tuned into the group's conversation were snickering._

_"Shouldn't she be like a Pomeranian or something?," Aubrey piped up to Beca's frustration and the Bellas further amusement._

_Beca couldn't stay mad at them after all she had missed them as much as they had missed her and was glad to be in her group of awesome nerds again. Once they had calmed down, they had lots of questions to ask Beca about what had happened after she had died. Sadly, Beca didn't have much to say about it._

_"Honestly guys it was like I just fell asleep," Beca said. "I kind of remember the attack, but I don't remember any pain. I just felt sad because I didn't think I was going to see any of you again. After the attackers left, I wanted to call you and apologize, but I was so cold, and then I fell asleep."_

_The Bellas all listened as Beca tried to explain what she went through. She was still holding onto Chloe's hand, and that seemed to ground her._

_"The next thing I remember is waking up as a dog," Beca said. "This obviously freaked me out until I heard a voice say something about being able to move on and having to set things right. I have no idea what they meant. The only thing I could think of that might be unfinished business was Chloe, so I waited at my grave for her to find me and bring me to you guys."_

_The Bella's pulled her into another hug, upset that Beca had been alone when she died and that she only thought of them even when she was dying._

_"Do you know how I died?," Beca asked the group who looked reluctant but resigned to telling her._

_"You tried to break up a fight," Aubrey said._

_"Yes, I remember thinking that fights ruin things between people," Beca said, glancing at the Bellas. "So, I stepped in to stop them. They were angry with each other, but they then turned on me. I tried to defend myself, but they blindsided me. The first guy hit me, and I think I passed out. I don't remember much after that."_

_"Yes, that hit made you fall funny," Aubrey said. "Your mom said you hit your head so hard that it cracked your skull. That didn't kill you. They kicked you, mostly on your legs and torso. One of the kicks broke a rib that punctured your lungs, causing you to suffocate. That is what they say killed you."_

_Aubrey tried not to sob at the thought of such a violent death especially to their tiny DJ. How those men could do that to her was beyond her._

_"Did they catch the guys?," Beca asked._

_"Yes," Aubrey said. "There were security cameras in the area that caught their faces clearly. We heard they both got sent to prison. Not that that's any consolation. It won't bring you back."_

_"So, that's not my unfinished business then," Beca said in frustration._

_"Maybe it's that you were supposed to win Nationals," Amy suggested as a joke to lighten the mood, but Beca looked like she was considering it._

_"That's the only thing I can think of that's left," Beca said. "It's why I've been sending you those mixes."_

_"You made those?," the Bella's chorused to which Beca nodded._

_"Okay, ladies, we need to win this thing for Beca," Aubrey said in her captain voice as she turned to Beca. "Maybe we should just sing one of your mixes right now."_

_Beca raised her eyebrows in surprise before nodding._

_"Okay, um, Aubrey can you pick a song for me?," Beca asked._

_"How about 'Just the Way You Are' by Bruno Mars?," Aubrey said looking at Chloe out of the corner of her eye._

_Chloe smiled at Beca and Beca nodded before starting the opening notes. Once she knew the Bellas had the first song she cut in with "Just a Dream" which made some of the Bellas smirk at the irony of singing this song in a dream. Once they finished, they all looked at each other with matching grins before they heard an awful noise._

_Beep. Beep. Beep._


	4. Chapter 4

The Bellas awoke with varying degrees of shock and sadness wondering if the others really did have the same dream. It quickly became clear that they had all had the same dream when they saw each other in the kitchen. It had really happened, and they had actually spoken to Beca. It also meant that their lovable mascot, Bee, was really Beca in dog form and they decided they were going to start calling her Beca. They thought it only right that they call her by her real name.

Beca was suspiciously absent during breakfast. Once the Bellas finished, they all went and sat in the living room. Everyone was silent because they just had no idea what to say to each other. What could they say after a revelation like that?

The silence was broken by a scratching at the front door. The Bellas glanced at each other and Chloe went to open the door. The large dog trotted in like nothing was wrong whatsoever holding another USB drive in her mouth. She dropped it at Aubrey's feet, and Aubrey crouched down to pick it up and stroke Beca behind the ears. Beca then moved to Chloe's feet and laid down to relax. She realized there was an awkward silence in the room and looked around curiously to find the Bellas all staring at her.

Beca looked at Aubrey, Chloe, and Emily, who seemed unaffected by what was going on with the rest of the Bellas. Beca then realized what they were staring at her and winked at them to prove it was really her. All at once the Bellas came to life and started firing off questions.

"Is it really you?"

"Where did you go?"

"What was that you gave to Aubrey?"

When Beca shuffled backward in shock and pinned her ears back nervously, the Bellas calmed down and waited for answers.

"Uh, guys?," Chloe said getting their attention. "She can't exactly answer."

"Oh, yeah," Amy muttered.

"It's just when you look into her eyes all you see is Beca, not the body she's inhabiting," Stacie explained to the agreement of the other Bellas.

"Well, uh, Aubrey and I know some stuff," Emily said quietly not sure she wanted the sometimes intimidating group of Bellas attention just on her.

"Why is that?," Chloe asked with a slight edge to her voice that had Aubrey rushing to explain.

"It takes more energy to talk to people you were close with," Aubrey said. "Beca and I weren't close, and Emily didn't know her, so we were the easiest to talk to. Speaking of that, how did she see us all last night? It must have taken an enormous amount of energy?" 

Aubrey looked at Beca closely and could see just how tired she looked. Beca just gave Aubrey what looked like a shrug and a half smirk, much to Aubrey's annoyance. Just as the Bellas were about to ask Aubrey all that she knew about the situation, there was a knock at the door.

None of the Bellas were expecting anybody, especially this early in the morning, so they glanced at each other nervously. Aubrey as captain went to greet the visitor with the Bellas following curiously just behind her.

It was Beca's father, surprisingly, and the sight of him made Chloe's blood boil. Aubrey had explained to Chloe just the day before why she didn't come to Beca's funeral, but Beca's father had no excuse. Mr. Mitchell gulped nervously when he heard Beca growl at him. He looked at the cold faces of the Bellas but powered on regardless.

"I was wondering if, since you seemed close to Beca, and seem to like music too, that you might want to have Beca's old things," Mr. Mitchell said.

"Why can't they stay at your house?," Chloe asked with forced politeness.

"I'm moving away," Mr. Mitchell replied impatiently. "Look, if you don't want this music junk, I'll donate it or leave it in the street."

"No, don't do that," Chloe said quickly. "We'll take it." 

She was unhappy with Mr. Mitchell and wondered how he could just get rid of Beca's favorite stuff and prized possessions without any feeling. Mr. Mitchell just turned around and picked up some boxes near his car. Some of the Bellas went out to help. Once the boxes were inside the house, he just got into his car and left without another word. 

Beca was sniffing at the boxes looking for something in particular. She barked excitedly once she found it prompting Chloe to reach into the box to see what it was. Beca's prized headphones laid on top of some plaid shirts. Beca's tail was wagging excitedly, and Chloe knew that she wanted them on despite the fact her body was that of a dog. They acted more like a collar on Beca's neck than anything, but they instantly looked like they belonged there just like when Beca was human.

"Little alt dog," Aubrey said playfully, but Beca was in her own world sniffing around the boxes.

"Hey, Aubrey?," Emily asked curiously. "What was it that Beca gave you when she came in?"

"Another USB drive," Aubrey said. "Probably for the finals. Shall I put it on?"

The question was met by agreement from everyone, so she pulled her laptop from the table and played the file on it. The first notes of Jessie J's "Price Tag" started and it just got better as the mix progressed. All the Bellas were nodding their heads or tapping their feet by the end of it.

"Do I even have to ask if this is the song we are using?," Aubrey asked with a smile.

All the Bella's shook their heads now with a grin.

"No?," Aubrey said. "Okay, let's get to learning it then."

In Portland, Maine, Sally Mitchell was sitting by her daughter's bedside. Beca had been in a coma for a little over a year now, and the doctors were hopeful that her brain function was still good. They noticed that her eyes were moving as if she were in a REM sleep state. This made them believe that she was not in as deep a coma as they originally thought. Sally got up and went to the lounge to get some coffee. Maria, one of the nurses that had been there since Beca was admitted, asked Sally how she was doing.

"I've been better," Sally told her. "I don't know why but I've been feeling really guilty about telling Beca's father and all her friends that she had died from the attack. The police were originally afraid that friends of the two guys who attacked her might retaliate against her. It was best to let them believe she was dead and move her here. Almost like a witness protection kind of thing. They found out later that they were just two stupid drunks."

"How do they not know she's alive?," Maria said.

"We had a closed casket service for her," Sally said. "The police just said she died and no one ever questioned it. The one year anniversary just past a little over a month ago. I guess it's just bringing back everything."

"Paging Dr. Johannsen. Please report to Room 3022," the speaker crackled loudly. "Dr. Johannsen, please report to Room 3022."

"Oh, my God," Sally cried. "That's Beca's room."

Sally went running back to her daughter's room and stopped and stared wide-eyed from the doorway. Beca was staring wide-eyed back at her.

The next morning the Bellas house was in chaos. Beca was nowhere to be found. Chloe was beside herself. All the Bellas were out looking for her. Aubrey and Stacie found the dog, but they could tell that Beca was no longer there. With heavy hearts, they returned to the Bella house to tell Chloe and the rest of the girls. Stacie and Aubrey held Chloe as she cried.

"I thought she couldn't move on until we won Nationals?," Amy said.

"I guess we were wrong about that," Stacie said. "It must have been something else."

"It doesn't matter," Aubrey said. "We are going to win this for Beca anyway. We owe it to her, wherever she is."

"At least we had a chance to say goodbye this time," Chloe said through her tears. "And, I got to hold her and tell I loved her one last time. Even if it was in a dream."

"Hey, mom," Beca's voice cracked as she spoke.

"Here's some water," Dr. Johannsen said.

He held the cup to Beca's mouth and let her take a few sips.

"Better?," Dr. Johannsen asked.

"Much," Beca said.

"Do you know what the date is today?," Dr. Johannsen.

"I'm not exactly sure," Beca said. "But the one year anniversary of my attack was about a month ago."

"How does she know that?," Sally asked.

"I know this is going to sound weird," Beca said. "But, I had this really weird dream that I was a dog. That it was the dog's body but my mind. I could recognize people, places, and things, and I was back at Barden. I got to see all the Bellas and Chloe. They all said I died."

"That was for your protection," Sally said hugging Beca.

She explained everything that happened and why she was in Portland. Beca was upset because it caused a lot of pain for her friends, and especially Chloe.

"I need to call Chloe," Beca said.

"No," Sally said. "Let's get you well enough to leave this hospital, and you're going to Barden to see her."

"Really?," Beca said.

"Dr. Johannsen," Sally said. "How long before Beca can be released?"

"I'd say three weeks," Dr. Johannsen told them. "We have to get her back on solid foods. We have to give her some physical therapy to help regain some muscle tone. We've done some exercises to keep her joints moving, but she'll be weak at first. If all goes well, and she works very hard, she can be out of here in three weeks."

"What do you say, Beca?," Sally asked. "Ready to work your ass off to get back to Chloe?"

"When do I start?," Beca said with determination.

It had been two weeks since Chloe and the girls last saw Beca. Chloe was doing better, but some days it felt like she was just going through the motions. She got up, went to class, had Bellas practice, and then went home to study or sleep. But those days were becoming fewer and fewer. Her smile that had all but disappeared in the last year was back on most days, especially when she thought about Beca. Chloe knows she told Beca she was going to move on and find love again, but she also knows that it would be years before that would happen. So, for now, she was focusing on winning the ICCA National Title.

In the past two weeks, after hearing Beca tell her that what happened wasn't her fault and that she forgave her for what she said that night, Aubrey felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. And, she'd never tell Beca this, but Beca was right and Aubrey finally gave in and admitted she had feelings for Stacie. She also knew that no matter what life threw at them she would keep her promise to Beca and always look out for Chloe. 

As for Stacie, they were going out on their first date tonight. It took a week before Aubrey could work up the nerve to talk to Stacie about things other than the Bellas. She found that she and Stacie had a lot in common and finally asked her out a few days ago. She smiled thinking about the tall brunette.

"Thinking about Stacie?," Chloe asked with a small smile. "And don't lie. I know that smile. It's the same one I get when I think about Beca."

"Yeah," Aubrey said and blushed. "We have our first date tonight. I was wondering if you, you know, want to, help me get ready?"

"Of course," Chloe said and got up to follow Aubrey into her room.

Chloe was laughing at something Aubrey said that reminded them both of Beca. It was the first time she had laughed like that in a while and it felt pretty good.

"I love that sound," Aubrey said looking at her. "Your laugh. It's kind of been missing for a while."

"Yeah," Chloe said putting a stray hair behind her ear. "It's just seeing Beca and talking with her gave me some peace. I still miss her with all my heart, but I feel better knowing that she's okay. You know?"

Chloe wiped at the tears that came to her eyes. Aubrey hugged her and went to finish getting ready. Chloe got up when there was a knock on the door.

"That's probably Stacie," Aubrey said. "Tell her I'll be out in about five minutes."

"Okay," Chloe said and opened the door.

"Hey, Chlo," Stacie said.

"Hey, Stacie," Chloe said. "You look great. Brey will be out in about five minutes. Come on in and sit down."

A few days later, Beca made her way across the floor of the PT room. She was using a cane and was able to walk really well. Her legs were stronger, her arms were stronger, and her frustration level had gone down immensely.

"That's it for today," Greg, Beca's PT, says. "You did great. You'll be out of here soon."

"Seriously?," Beca said. "That's fucking awesome. I can't wait to see Chloe for real this time."

Beca is back in her room and her mother walks in with Dr. Johannsen and she has a big smile on her face. Beca looks are her suspiciously.

"What's going on?," Beca said.

"I have a surprise for you," Sally said.

"Oh, yeah?," Beca said with a smile. "What is it?"

"Well, I managed to get us tickets to the ICCA Championships in New York," Sally said.

"No shit?," Beca said looking at her mother. "I'll get to see Chloe in, like, two days?"

"Yes," Sally said with a big smile on her face. 

"I'm releasing you tomorrow morning," Dr. Johannsen said. "You're doing great and as long as you keep up the exercises, I don't see any reason to keep you here."

"Thank you!," Beca cried hugging Dr. Johannsen. "Thank you! Thank you!"

Dr. Johannsen laughed and hugged her back. He let her go and said he'd see her in the morning and left.

"I got you some new clothes," Sally told Beca. "I'll go home and pack our suitcases and come back tomorrow to get you. We can leave from here and drive down to New York."

"Okay, girls," Aubrey called getting their attention. "Our flight is at 10:00 am tomorrow. We need to be ready to leave by 8:00 am sharp, so I suggest you all make it an early night. Our rehearsal time is 4:00 pm tomorrow afternoon so we'll run through the set once and make quick adjustments to the choreography as we go. Okay? Good."

Later that night, the girls are relaxing in the living room. They are all excited about the ICCAs. Their setlist is awesome and they are going to bring home to the trophy for Beca. Aubrey is the first to tell everyone good night and head to her room. The others follow a short time later.

"We are going to make the ICCAs our bitch," Amy says as she heads upstairs.

The other girls all agree and are cheering and yelling. They all make it to their rooms and Chloe stays back to be alone for a few minutes. She looks around the living room remembering different nights sharing the space with the other Bellas and Beca. She wipes a tear from her eye.

"I don't know if you can hear me, Becs," Chloe said quietly. "But, I love you and we're going to be singing for you at the ICCAs. I hope you can see and hear us."

Chloe gets up and turns out the lights and makes sure the door is locked. She slowly makes her way to her room and checks to make sure she has everything packed. She lays down and slowly falls asleep. A small smile comes to her lips as she falls into a dream.

_ Chloe was blown away by Beca's audition. As soon as the auditions were over, she went over to the hot little brunette. _

_ "Hey, Beca," Chloe said. _

_ "Um, hey, Chloe," Beca says. "Did you need something?" _

_ "I was wondering if you would like to go out with me?," Chloe asked. _

_ "You mean on a date?," Beca asked eyes wide. _

_ "Yes," Chloe said. "I like you and I think we can be so much more than just friends. I mean, if that's what you want, too." _

_ "I'd love to," Beca said with a big smile. _

Chloe turned over in her sleep, and once settled again, started dreaming about Beca. The dream was like a montage of their time together - first date, first kiss, first time having sex. Chloe woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. She hurried to get ready and out to the bus. Most of the girls were already there and the rest soon followed. Amy drove the bus to the Atlanta airport and soon the girls were on their way to New York.

Beca and her mom arrived in New York around 6:00 pm and checked into their hotel room. They decided to grab dinner in the hotel dining room. It turns out the Treblemakers were staying in the same hotel. Jesse Swanson looked up and caught a glimpse of a petite brown-haired girl and his face paled. He turned to another Treble.

"Donald," Jesse said looking back at where he spotted the girl. "Did you see that girl?"

"What girl?," Donald said. "Is she hot?"

"It looked like Beca Mitchell," Jesse said his eyes darting around.

"Sure it was," Donald said and laughed. "Hey, Bumper! Jesse says Beca Mitchell is here tonight."

The other Trebles laugh at Jesse and start giving him a hard time. He takes the ribbing and looks at them sheepishly. They get checked in and head to their rooms. 

The Bellas enter the hotel after their rehearsal and are discussing what to do about dinner. Lily looks around and spots Beca and her mother at the table in the restaurant.

"Beca's here," Lily whispers.

"What was that, Lily?," Aubrey asks.

"Beca's here," Lily repeats.

"You're right," Chloe says. "I feel like she's here with us. I just know we're going to win this for her."

"Damn right," CR said and the other Bellas agreed.

Beca looked up when she heard the commotion and saw the Bellas in the lobby. She saw that Lily was staring right at her. She swallowed and looked at her mother.

"The Bellas are here," Beca said.

Her mother looked around and saw them. She noticed one of the girls was staring right at them.

"Should we go over to them?," Sally asked.

"No," Beca said. "They have to perform tomorrow and I don't want to upset them."

"What about the one staring at you?," Sally asked.

Beca looked directly at Lily and gave her a little nod toward the restroom. Lily nodded back and headed over telling one of the girls she'd be right back. Beca got up and kept her head down as she followed Lily. She got into the bathroom and Lily was standing there waiting for her. Uncharacteristically, Lily grabbed Beca in a hug and Beca hugged her back.

"How are you here?," Lily asked.

"It's a long story," Beca said. "Can you get away from the rest of the girls? I need to tell someone what happened."

"I will slip out to meet you while the girls are getting ready for dinner," Lily said.

"Okay," Beca said. "My mom and I are in Room 327. Meet us there in about 20 minutes."

Lily nods and quietly leaves the bathroom. Beca waits a minute and goes back to her mother.

"Lily is going to meet us in our room so we can tell her everything," Beca said. "She can help us keep track of where the Bellas are so we can surprise them tomorrow night after their performance."

Beca and her mother discreetly leave the restaurant and are able to avoid the Bellas. They head to their room and about 10 minutes later Lily knocks on the door. Beca lets her in.


	5. Chapter 5

_ Beca and her mother discreetly leave the restaurant and manage to avoid the Bellas. They head to their room, and about 10 minutes later Lily knocks on the door. Beca lets her in. _

"The girls are in their rooms getting ready," Lily said. "I only have about 30 minutes before they'll start wondering where I am."

Beca smiles and proceeds to tell Lily everything that happened since the night Beca was attacked.

"We need your help," Beca said. "I don't want to throw the girls off, so I'm waiting until after your performance to show myself."

"We will be doing everything together so that shouldn't be a problem," Lily said. "I have a copy of our itinerary right here. And you know Aubrey will stick to it."

"Perfect," Beca said with a laugh taking the itinerary. "I appreciate you helping us with this. I know seeing me in the dream weirded everyone out. I need to figure out a way to ease into letting them know I'm alive."

"Just show yourself, Beca," Lily said. "That's all you'll need to do."

"Thanks, Lily," Beca said and gave the girl a quick hug.

"I have to go," Lily said. "I'll see you tomorrow night."

Lily leaves, and Beca lets out a sigh. Sally watched as Beca paced back and forth.

"You really want to see her, don't you?," Sally asked.

"Yeah," Beca said with a smile. "It's going to be a long 24 hours."

"Why don't you tell me how you ended up being attacked," Sally said. "I never did hear from anyone about how you were walking home, alone, after your performance."

"Let's get some drinks and snacks from the vending machine," Beca said. "I'm going to need them."

Beca and her mother grab the ice bucket and head to the vending machine area. They get their drinks, some ice, and snacks and head back to their room. Jesse catches a glimpse of Sally as she enters her room and frowns.

"That looked like Beca's mother," he said.

"Where?," Bumper asked not having seen anyone.

"She just went into that room," Jesse said.

"Maybe the Bellas invited her or something," Bumper said.

"Yeah," Jesse said. "Maybe."

Beca and Sally change into their pajamas and grab a drink. They put the snacks on the bed and sit with their backs against the headboard.

"I know parts of this will be hard for you," Sally said. "But, I'm here. Just take your time and tell it however you want."

"Okay," Beca said. "We made it past the Regional competition and were heading for the Semi-Finals. Aubrey and I were always butting heads about the set list. I knew it could be so much better, but she wouldn't listen. The songs got them to the ICCAs the year before, and she was convinced they would again. We got onstage during the Semi-Finals and started the same routine. I looked around, and no one was paying attention to us. I even noticed some of the judges on their phones like they were bored. So, I added another song to the mix. People actually perked up and started paying attention, but it threw Fat Amy off, and she messed up a bit on the choreography. After we were done, Aubrey started yelling at me. None of the girls, not even Chloe, stood up for me. It really hurt. Aubrey ended by saying she knew I wasn't a Bella. That really hurt because I had been trying so hard. Before I could react, Jesse came over and grabbed me by the arm."

"Jesse?," Sally interrupted. "He's the guy you were friends with from the radio station, right?"

"Yeah," Beca said. "That's him. I actually considered him one of my best friends. That caused more friction between Aubrey and me. Jesse was a Treblemaker, and the Bellas weren't supposed to hook up with them. She knew I was with Chloe and that I was gay, but it didn't stop her from constantly riding me about being friends with him. Chloe kept telling me to ignore her but it bugged me to have Aubrey thinking I would ever cheat on Chloe."

Beca sat with a frown on her face remembering Aubrey's words. She had forgiven her, but that didn't mean she was going to forget.

"Anyway," Beca continued. "He dragged me away from the Bellas and started telling me how he was saving me from their wrath. That they never liked me and he couldn't count the number of times he heard the girls say they wished I wasn't in the group. Then he started saying I should leave Chloe and go out with him because he was so much better for me than she was. I told him I wasn't interested in him in that way and he got angry and just started calling me all sorts of names. I looked over at the Bellas, and they were all watching, but none of them came over to stop it. I finally told him to fuck off and just left. No one came after me." 

Beca wiped the tears that fell down her cheek. Her mother reached over and pulled her into her arms.

"It's okay," Sally said. "I think you should read some of the text messages the girls sent you that night. Especially, Chloe. They all regretted not standing up for you, even before they found out about you being attacked."

"Really?," Beca asked. "It's funny, but while I was walking, I had calmed down and had already forgiven them. I was going to apologize when they got back to the hotel. The one I was really mad at was Jesse for trying to use the situation to get me to go out with him. I don't know how many times I told him I was gay and that I was in love with Chloe. He just wouldn't listen."

"Some guys think girls are gay just because they haven't been with a 'real man' like them," Sally said. "What a douche."

"Yeah," Beca said with a laugh. "What a douche."

"Now, finish the story," Sally said.

"Okay," Beca said with a laugh. "So, I ran to the dressing room and got my stuff before I left the theater. I saw a bus stop and went to it thinking I could take it back to the hotel. Unfortunately, the last bus had already passed by there, so I started walking. My phone was dead, so I couldn't call a cab or anything. As I was walking, I saw these two guys fighting. They seemed like friends who were having a disagreement, and I thought about how fights ruin things between people, so I stepped between them. I told them that they should stop because it seemed like they were friends and would regret it. They both then just turned on me and started hitting me. I fell and don't remember too much after that. I do remember I wanted to call Chloe and tell her how sorry I was that I messed everything up. The next the thing I remember was being in a dog's body sitting at my grave site waiting for Chloe to show up."

"Wow," Sally said. "I never realized all that happened. I'm sorry, Beca."

"You don't need to apologize," Beca said. "You explained why you did what you did and I understand. I just wonder if it will be safe to show up in Barden if those guys were really part of some gang or something."

"The police told me a few months after everything happened that the gang theory had been just gossip," Sally said. "The two guys were just drunk and stupid. By then, though, all your friends thought you were dead, and you were still in a coma. I didn't see any reason to hurt them more especially since we didn't know when, or if, you'd come out of the coma."

"I'm glad," Beca said. "I don't want to even think about what Chloe would have given up waiting for me to come out of the coma."

Beca yawned, and her mother suggested they turn in for the night. They both settled down and went to sleep.

Just two floors down, the Bellas were all in Stacie and Aubrey's room hanging out and talking.

"It's weird, Brey," Chloe said sitting next to her best friend on the bed. "I feel like Beca is here. I haven't felt her presence like this in so long."

"It's normal," Aubrey said. "We promised to win for her so, of course, her presence is going to be strongly felt."

"I guess," Chloe said and caught Lily's eye.

Lily smiled at Chloe. Chloe was surprised at how it was probably the first genuine, not creepy, smile she'd seen on the girl. Chloe smiled back at her. It wasn't long after that Aubrey suggested they go to their rooms and get some rest. They had a big day ahead of them. The girls all bid each other a good night and went to their rooms.

The next morning Beca and Sally rose early and decided to find someplace to have breakfast. They were going down the last few steps to the lobby when Beca grabbed the handrail and jerked her hand back.

"Ew," Beca said. "Somebody stuck their gum to the railing. I'm going to the ladies room and wash my hands."

"Okay," Sally said. "I'll wait right here for you."

After Beca disappeared, the Trebles came off the elevator. Sally glanced over at them, and one of the guys looks at her wide-eyed. He came rushing over to her.

"You're Beca Mitchell's mother, aren't you?," he asked as soon as he was in front of her.

"I am," Sally said eying the guy up and down.

"Why are you here?," the guy asked.

"That's none of your business," Sally responded.

"I was Beca's best friend and almost boyfriend," the guy said. "That makes it my business. Especially if you're here to support those Bellas bitches. They're the reason she died."

"Watch your mouth, young man," Sally said. "I know all about you. Your Jesse Swanson, the delusional Treble who actually thought that my gay daughter would date you."

"She was into me," Jesse said smugly. "Chloe had her brainwashed into thinking she loved her. But she didn't do anything to stop Aubrey from throwing her out of the group. Beca left and died because of it."

"And what you said to Beca had nothing to do with it?," Sally asked getting angry.

Jesse swallowed hard. How would she know what Jesse said to Beca? Everyone stayed away when they were talking, and no one heard what he said.

"Yes, I know what you said," Sally said. "So, I suggest you get your sorry ass away from me before I do something you will regret."

Just then the Bellas came out of the elevators into the lobby. They saw the Trebles and stopped. Sally took this moment to quickly text Beca to stay in the bathroom because the Bellas and the Trebles were in the lobby. Sally looked back up and caught Chloe's eye.

"Mrs. Mitchell?," Chloe said rushing over to her. "Oh, my gosh. What are you doing here? It's so nice to see you."

Chloe grabbed Sally in a hug and Sally hugged her back.

"I heard you girls made it to the Finals and I wanted to come and support you," Sally said and then looked over at Jesse. "Why are you still here?"

"What did he say to you?," Chloe asked glaring at Jesse.

"Do they know what you said to Beca the night she was attacked?," Sally asked Jesse.

"That's nobody's business," Jesse said. "It was private between Beca and me."

"What did you say to her, Jesse?," Aubrey asked as she and the rest of the Bellas surrounded Chloe and Sally.

Jesse looked around at Sally, the Bellas, and the Treblemakers who were all now paying close attention to what was going on. Jesse turned and stood by the Trebles.

"Let's go," Jesse said. "We have more important things to do than stand around with these bitches."

"No," Aubrey said. "What did you do that night, Jesse? Did you say something to make her leave?"

"No," Jesse said. "She was going to leave anyway after everything you said to her. I was just trying to let her know she had other options."

"What other options?," Chloe asked.

"He said I should leave you and be with him," Beca's voice came from behind the Bellas.

Every head turned at the sound of Beca's voice. Jesse's face paled, and Chloe fainted. Thankfully Aubrey and Stacie grabbed her before she hit the floor. Beca ran over to Chloe as soon as she saw her faint.

"Get her over to the sofa," Beca said.

Aubrey and Stacie got Chloe to the sofa. The Bellas all gathered around Chloe and Beca. Sally stood with her hand on Beca's shoulder as she could see how nervous and tense she was.

Bumper, Jesse, and the Trebles all stood there in shock. Beca had died? How was she here? Bumper finally came out of his daze and starting pulling the Trebles out the door.

"Let's go," Bumper said to them. "I don't want to be here when Chloe wakes up. I have a feeling that those girls are going to kill us."

The other Trebles agreed and made a fast exit.

"How? Why?," Stacie stuttered looking at Beca.

"It's a long story," Beca said with a smile. "I'm not a ghost. I'm really here. I'm really alive."

The Bellas all pulled Sally and Beca into a group hug. Chloe started to stir, and Beca took her hand.

"Hey, Chlo," Beca said.

"Am I dreaming?," Chloe said as a tear fell from her eye.

"No, baby," Beca said. "I'm real."

Chloe grabbed Beca to her and hugged her. Tears fell down both their faces. Chloe pulled back from the hug and put her hands on Beca's face and just stared into her eyes. Beca leaned forward and kissed Chloe. The rest of the girls 'awwed' and Chloe pulled back with a smile.

"How are you here?," Chloe asked.

"It's a long story," Beca said. "Why don't we go to breakfast and my mom and I will tell you everything."

Chloe pulls Beca in for another kiss and lets her go.

"Let's go," Chloe said, and Beca helped her stand.

Once Chloe had a hold on Beca's hand, she didn't let it go for a second. They went to the diner that Beca and her mom had decided on earlier and were seated. Chloe kept wiping tears from her face, but never let go of Beca. Sally told the girls what she did and why she did it. The girls were angry but realized Sally did what she thought was best at the time.

"I'm really sorry I put all of you through that," Sally said. "I just didn't know what else to do to protect Beca."

"We understand, Mrs. Mitchell," Aubrey said speaking for the group. "We are just glad she's back with us now."

"Please call me Sally," Sally said looking around the table. "All of you."

"Would you and your mom like to join us for sightseeing?," Chloe asked Beca.

Beca looked at her mom and Sally nodded.

"We'd love to," Beca said. "Can I kiss you on top of the Empire State Building? I heard that's supposed to be the thing to do while in New York."

"You can kiss me anywhere you want," Chloe said and kissed Beca to prove her point.

The girls chatted while eating their breakfast. Sally smiled at her daughter and her girlfriend. She was glad that Beca was back with Chloe and the rest of the girls.

"Did we all imagine the dream we shared?," CR asked.

"No," Beca said. "I remember it all. Me being in the dog's body, giving you the music for your setlists, seeing you all in the dream together. I was still in the coma the whole time that happened. It's some freaky "Twilight Zone" shit, but I could hear you, see you, feel you. The doctors have no explanation for it, and neither do I. I guess my connection to you guys was so strong, that it manifested itself into me being able to subconsciously seek you out."

"How did you make those USBs?," CR asked. "And type out that note."

Beca laughed and scratched her nose.

"Well," Beca said. "It was hard. I had to really concentrate, and the paws of a German Shepherd are not small. That's why the note was so badly written. I couldn't get the paws to do what I wanted, but at least it made sense."

The girls all laugh picturing Bee at the computer trying to type.

"The USBs were ones I made when I stayed at my dad's house over the breaks," Beca said. "It helped to keep me sane since we never really talked or did anything."

"Wow," Aubrey said. "You really put yourself through a lot to help us out."

"I had to make sure you beat the Trebles," Beca said.

"Speaking of those dirtbags," Stacie said. "What should we do about the Trebles and especially Jesse?"

"Kick their asses at the Finals," Aubrey said.

"Hell yeah," the Bellas all cheered.

"I think we seriously need to go to the dean when we get back," Beca said. "They almost killed Emily, and their so-called pranks have gotten way out of hand."

"I agree," Sally said. "Beca told me some of the stuff they did, and it sounds like charges should have been brought against them."

"That's my fault," Aubrey said. "I think my competitive side overruled my common sense. I wanted to beat them so bad, but it would have been a hollow victory if we won because they were disqualified."

"Seriously, Aubrey?," Beca said shooting her a glare. "They literally tried to drown Emily. That was more than enough reason to call the police."

"I know that," Aubrey said squirming in her seat. "We'll call and press charges as soon as we get back to Barden. I'm sorry, Emily. I wasn't thinking about you, and I should have put your safety first."

"I guess it's okay," Emily said and grinned. "I mean from what Chloe told us, Bee scared the hell out of them. Maybe we should find her again and adopt her for real. That'll keep them away, don't you think?"

The rest of the Bellas chuckle.

"I don't know, Em," Stacie said. "Bee may not be so badass without the spirit of Beca Effin' Mitchell in her."

Beca blushed, and the girls all laughed. Chloe gave her a quick kiss and a hug.

"Come on, girls," Chloe said. "I have some kissing to do on top of the Empire State Building."

Chloe pulled Beca up, and the rest of the girls followed suit. Sally took care of the check and wouldn't accept any money from the girls. As Beca and Chloe walked, side by side, holding hands, Sally walked next to them.

"I can't believe how everyone just accepts that I'm here," Beca said. "I mean no one is freaking out or acting weird."

"I think it's because we all had that dream together," Chloe said. "And found out you were occupying a dog's body. After all that, having you actually here just doesn't seem that weird."

"I guess," Beca said and stopped questioning it and enjoyed her day with the girls.

The last stop they made before they had to get back to the hotel was the Empire State Building. They made their way up to the observation deck and stepped out. Chloe pulled Beca into a corner and kissed her. Beca kissed her back and touched their foreheads together.

"Thank you," Beca said.

"For what?," Chloe asked.

"For still loving me," Beca said. "I don't know what I would have done if I had come out of the coma and you weren't a part of my life."

"You're my one and only," Chloe said. "If I had known you were in a coma, I would have transferred to whatever college was close to you so I could be with you every day. There is no way I was not going to be a part of your life."

"I love you," Beca whispered. "I love you so, so much."

"I love you, too," Chloe said. "Now shut up and kiss me."

"Yes, ma'am," Beca said and joined their lips together.


	6. Chapter 6

Beca and her mom found their seats and were anxiously awaiting the start of the ICCA Finals. The Bellas were backstage getting ready and were excited about their performance. All the girls were laughing and smiling, and Chloe's smile was the biggest and brightest of them all. How could it not be. A year ago the Bellas could barely make it through their set, and this year, this year the heart of the Bellas was back. Her heart was back.

The Bellas were all ready and stood in the wings watching the other groups perform. It was time for the Treblemakers to take the stage and Jesse and Bumper made sure to bump into Chloe and Aubrey as they walked past them. Chloe just laughed at them causing Jesse to glare at her. 

Once the Trebles were onstage, Beca made sure to make eye contact with Jesse. She glared at him, and he tried to stare her down but looked away when it was time for their song to start. He started singing, and Beca continued to glare at him, her eyes never leaving him as she watched his every move. Jesse caught Beca watching him and became a little unnerved. He missed a few steps causing Bumper and Donald to mess up as well. Jesse tried to get back into it but the harder he tried, the worse it became. When the song was finally over the audience gave them pity applause because it was so bad. Bumper and Donald start shoving Jesse off the stage.

The Bellas all smiled and gave them a slow clap as they hurried past them. Beca sat with a smirk on her face.

"Wow," John Smith exclaimed to the  _ Let's Talk A Capella _ fans listening in. "That was so unlike the Treblemakers. They are going to have a hard time even placing this year after a performance like that."

"I have to agree with you there, John," Gail Abernathy said. "Sadly, they remind me of the Barden Bellas from last year. Their performance was just as bad. But, we at least know that that they had a good reason for the way they performed. Losing one of their one so tragically will do that to you."

"Yes, it will," John said. "Let's hope they have gotten themselves together and do well. The Treblemakers performance was just sad. It would be tragic to have both Barden teams do poorly."

"Well, we're about to find out, John," Gail said. "The Barden Bellas are up next."

"That was mean," Sally says to Beca and then laughs. "But, pretty damn cool to watch."

"Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer says. "Welcome to the stage the  _ Barden Bellas _ !"

The audience claps as the girls take their places on the stage. Aubrey blows the pitch pipe, and Chloe starts to sing. Beca sits mesmerized. The girls are flawless. They hit every note and every step. When they finish, the place erupts in a standing ovation and deafening cheers and whistles. The girls leave the stage, and there is a brief intermission while the judges make their decision. 

"That was unbelievable," Gail tells her radio listeners. "The Barden Bellas are definitely the team to beat this year."

"I couldn't agree with you more, Gail," John said excitedly.

Chloe goes out to the audience and finds Beca. She gives her a quick kiss.

"Come on, Beca," Chloe says taking Beca by the hand. "You're a Bella, and no matter what happens, you need to be with us when we hear the results. You come too, Sally."

Sally and Beca let Chloe lead them backstage. The rest of the Bellas hug Beca and are squealing and jumping up and down.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats," the announcer says.

There is a lot of noise in the auditorium as people make their way back to their seats. The Bellas gather in the wings and wait excitedly. Everything quiets down as the announcer takes the stage.

"Let's have another round of applause for all our teams," the announcer says. The announcer waits until the applause quiets down. "Without further ado, in second place we have  _ The Footnotes. _ "

The audience applauds, and the group comes onstage to get their trophy. After it quiets down again, the announcer takes over.

"And, now in first place," he says. "And after their performance, I'm sure this is no surprise to anyone. This year's ICCA National Champions are  _ The Barden Bellllllllaaaaaaassssssss _ !"

The girls all squeal and rush to the stage, Chloe dragging Beca by the hand. The audience jumps to their feet, and the place erupts. Aubrey and Chloe hold the trophy in the air.

The Bellas are backstage in their dressing room. The excitement of winning has not died down, and Chloe hasn't let go of Beca since they came backstage. Suddenly, Aubrey claps her hands and gets everyone to quiet down.

"Okay, ladies, listen up," Aubrey says. "First, I want to say, Chloe and I are so proud of all of you. Our performance tonight was flawless. Second, this past year has been hard. And a little weird."

The girls all chuckle and glance at Beca. She just smiles at them, and Aubrey continues.

"But, we got our sound back," Aubrey said. "And, more importantly, our family is whole again."

Aubrey and Chloe both wipe at a tear and Stacie gives Aubrey a side hug.

"Beca," Aubrey says turning to face the girl. "Thank you. Thank you for the setlists that got us here. Thank you for forgiving us, for forgiving me. We usually save this for the end of year Bellas party but I think now is the perfect time to do this. Chloe, would you join me please?"

Chloe lets go of Beca and goes to stand by Aubrey. 

"Beca," Aubrey says. "We have selected you to be the Bellas Captain next year. I am turning over the pitch pipe to you. Congratulations."

Aubrey takes the pitch pipe in her hand and holds it out. The girls all clap and yell congratulations. Beca goes over to Chloe.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?," Beca whispers to Chloe. "Alone."

The girls and Aubrey look at Beca confused. They aren't sure what to make of what is happening right now. Beca leads Chloe out of the room and into the empty hallway.

"Um," Beca says to Chloe after coming to a stop. "Boy, this is kind of embarrassing. I was hoping that I would go wherever you're going. I mean, you're graduating and will be going out into the working world. I love you, and I thought, I mean, maybe we-"

"Beca," Chloe says cutting her off with a quick kiss. "I'm going to be teaching music at Barden Middle School. I start in the Fall. I accepted the position because I didn't want to be far from where you were, um-"

"Buried?," Beca says.

"Yeah," Chloe said looking down at the ground.

"I love you so much," Beca said taking Chloe by the chin and pulling her head up. "Are you going to be okay with having a girlfriend who's only a Freshman in college? I figure I'm going to have to start over since I didn't finish out the year."

"I love you, too," Chloe said kissing Beca. "And, I'll be the envy of all the other teachers because I have such a hot, young  _ lovah _ ."

"Oh, God, please don't say that again," Beca says with a laugh and leans in for another kiss.

"Um, guys," Stacie says from the dressing room doorway. "Aubrey's about to spew in here. Could you maybe come back and let us know what's happening?"

Chloe gives Beca another quick kiss and leads her back into the dressing room.

"I'm sorry," Beca said. "I didn't want to accept being Captain until I knew where Chloe was going to be. So, Aubrey, I thank you and humbly accept being Captain of the Barden Bellas next year. But, first I have to make sure I can re-enroll. And, hopefully, line up a scholarship since my dad doesn't work there anymore."

"I don't think that will be a problem," Sally said. "I actually have a college fund set aside for you. You'll be okay tuition-wise."

The Bellas all squeal and gather Beca into a group hug. After everyone pulls back from the hug, Aubrey hands Beca the pitch pipe.

"Make me proud," Aubrey said and pulled Beca into a hug.

"So, Captain," Stacie said looking at Beca. "What's the first order of business."

"I say," Beca smiles and looks at all of them. "Party in Aubrey's room!"

The girls all yell and cheer. Everyone gathers their belongings and head back to the hotel. After changing and gathering some snacks and drinks everyone meets up in Aubrey and Stacie's room. Sally tells Beca to have fun and that she was staying in for the night.

The party is in full swing, and most of the girls are drunk. Beca and Chloe have been side by side all night. Beca is holding Chloe and kisses her. She lays her forehead against Chloe's.

"I am so happy right now," Beca said with a smile.

"Me, too," Chloe said and bit her bottom lip. "There's only one thing that would make me happier."

"Oh, yeah," Beca said smiling as she pulled back to look at Chloe. "What's that?"

Chloe leans in and whispers in Beca's ear, "You and me naked in my room." 

Beca swallows and grabs Chloe's hand. She pushes her way through the Bellas to the door. Chloe stops her and turns around.

"Hey, Emily!," Chloe yells getting the young Bellas attention. "You'll have to find someplace else to sleep tonight."

"Why?," Emily asks and sees the blush on Beca's face. "Ohhhh! Yeah, sure, um, no problem."

Chloe then pulls Beca out the door to the whistles and catcalls of the Bellas. The next morning Beca quietly enters the room she's sharing with her mother. Her mother is already awake and just looks at Beca with a raised eyebrow. She starts laughing when Beca's cheeks turn bright red.

"Shut up," Beca says. "I'm going to take a shower. We've been invited to join the Bellas for breakfast."

After Beca showers, she and her mother get dressed and meet the Bellas for breakfast. Beca and Chloe are still all smiles and sticking close to each other.

"When do you girls fly back to Barden?," Sally asked.

"Our flight leaves at 2:30 this afternoon," Aubrey tells her.

"We'll head out once you girls leave for the airport," Sally said. "We'll have to stop somewhere for the night and will meet up with you girls sometime late tomorrow afternoon or early evening."

"Can I ride with you?," Chloe asked suddenly.

"Don't you have classes tomorrow?," Beca asked.

"No," Chloe said. "Monday's are my free days. Aubrey, you don't mind if I ride back with Beca and Sally, do you?"

"I don't mind," Aubrey said with a smile. "I'll call first thing tomorrow and make an appointment with the Dean to talk about the Trebles."

"Speaking of those dirtbags," Stacie said. "Where are they?"

"After their performance, I saw Bumper and Donald yelling at Jesse," Jessica said. "I don't know what happened after that."

"He deserved to get yelled at and more," Stacie said.

"I wonder what happened, though?," CR said. "I mean, the Trebles have never messed up like that before. Ever."

"Yeah, Jesse was way off his game," Stacie said.

"Beca may have had something to do with that," Sally said with a laugh.

"Beca, what did you do?," Chloe asked.

"Nothing," Beca said. "I swear."

"All she did was give him her death glare," Sally said. "He came unglued. I don't know how it looked backstage, but it was awesome to watch from where I was sitting."

The girls all laughed, and Beca tried to act like it was no big deal. The girls finish breakfast and head back to the hotel. Aubrey had arranged for the hotel shuttle to take the Bellas to the airport. The plan was to meet in the lobby at Noon. Beca and Sally get there first and are waiting when the Trebles came down. Jesse was at the back of the group and walked with his head down.

"Great job last night, Trebles," someone yelled across the lobby, and several people started laughing.

Jesse's head jerked up, and his eyes landed on Beca, who was glaring at him with a smirk on his face.

"Bitch," Jesse mouths to her.

Beca just smiled and flipped him off. She watched until the Trebles were out of the hotel.

"You two really hate each other," Sally said.

"We didn't use to," Beca told her. "I actually thought he was my friend until the night of the Semi-Finals. I didn't tell you this part, but after I told him that we would never be anything but friends, he called me a bitch, a cock tease, a dyke, and a, well the c-word that most girls don't care for. I've been called most of those since I came out, but never with the venom and hatred he said them with."

"He said all that to you?," Chloe said from behind Beca. "I'm going to kill him."

Beca hadn't heard Chloe approach and turned to face her.

"Hold on there, tiger," Beca said grabbing Chloe's arms. "He's not worth it. He'll get his when we go to the dean about all the stuff he and the Trebles have done."

The rest of the Bellas come off the elevators. Aubrey goes to the desk to check everyone out and is told the shuttle is waiting out front. She goes over to the girls who are all hugging Beca and Sally.

"The shuttle is here," Aubrey says.

The girls gather their stuff and head out to the shuttle. Aubrey hangs back.

"We'll see you all tomorrow afternoon," Aubrey tells them. "Drive safe."

Chloe hugs her and turns to Beca

"I'm going to grab us some water and snacks," Chloe said.

"I'll help you," Beca said. "Mom, we'll meet you outside."

"Okay," Sally says. "I'll walk out with Aubrey."

The girls are getting onto the shuttle, and everyone yells one more goodbye to Sally before the shuttle takes off. Sally hands the valet her parking stub, and Beca and Chloe come out of the hotel. They load up the car and drive away from the hotel. It's around 6:30 when they stop for something to eat and decide to find a hotel for the night. They all turn in around 10:00 with a plan of being on the road no later than 9:00 the next morning. Sally wakes up first and smiles when she looks over at the other bed. Beca and Chloe are snuggled together, the two of them holding onto each other like they're never going to let her go. Sally pulls out her phone and takes a couple of shots of the couple to show the Bellas.

Beca and Chloe take turns driving on Monday, allowing Sally to rest from driving the day before. It's around 4:30 Monday afternoon when Chloe pulls up and parks in front of the Bellas house. They enter to find most of the girls sitting in the living room.

"Where's Aubrey?," Chloe asked. "Did she make an appointment with the dean?"

"Yeah," Stacie said. "We meet with him at 10:00 tomorrow morning. And, right now, Aubrey and Emily are at the police station filing a complaint against Jesse, Donald, and Koolio for the pool incident."

"Hey, Beca," Jessica said. "We cleaned up your old room so you and your mom can stay here. We figure Chloe will just sleep in your bed anyway."

Beca's face turned bright red and Chloe and Sally both laughed.

"That sounds fine, girls," Sally said. "They are really cute when they snuggle up to each other. I have pictures to prove it."

"Mom, you didn't," Beca says.

"I did," Sally said.

"Let me see," Chloe said.

Sally pulled out her phone and showed the pictures she took. The other Bellas awwed at how cute the couple looked. 

"Oh, I want that one for my screen saver," Chloe said pointing to one of them. "Can you send it to me?"

"Sure," Sally said.

Beca just shook her head at her mom and Chloe. Just then, Aubrey and Emily came back. Stacie rushed over and gave Aubrey a quick kiss.

"What did the police say?," Stacie asked.

"They are arresting Jesse, Donald, and Koolio as we speak," Aubrey said. "They will be charged with breaking and entering and assault. They are also going to notify the dean."

The girls were all happy to hear about the arrests. They spent the evening laughing and watching movies. Sally taking more pictures of Chloe and Beca snuggled together on the sofa.

"Mom, could you stop?," Beca said getting exasperated.

"Nope," Sally said. "You two are just the cutest." 

The next morning they were all sitting outside the dean's office waiting for their meeting to start. At about 10:00 am the dean's secretary told them they could go in. They were shocked to see the Treblemakers along with Bumper Allen standing there looking at them. Bumper was wearing a smug smile.

"What the hell are you doing here?," Beca asked glaring at Bumper.

"You girls are falsely accusing the Trebles of some very serious things," Bumper says. "We are here to ensure that we are not railroaded by your obvious vendetta against us because of our superiority over you in the a cappella competitions."

Chloe and Sally both grabbed Beca when they saw her make a move toward Bumper.

"See, Dean," Bumper says. "Mentally unstable."

"Mr. Allen, please," the dean says and turns to the girls. "Ms. Posen, I'd like to hear from you why exactly you asked for this meeting."

"This meeting is about the childish, yet dangerous, pranks that the Treblemakers have been making against the Bellas," Aubrey says stepping forward. "Three of them have been arrested for the 'prank' that almost caused Emily to drown."

"Do you have any proof it was the Trebles?," the dean asks.

"We have Emily herself who identified the three Trebles involved," Aubrey said.

"I was there and saw it, too," Beca speaks up causing all the girls to look at her.

"She wasn't there," Bumper says. "She couldn't have seen anything."

"How do you know if I was there or not, Bumper?," Beca said.

"I, um, didn't," Bumper said sweating. "I heard, I mean, if you had been there why didn't you go to the police station with Emily?"

"He knows you weren't there," Greg, one of the Trebles, said. "Because  he led the group that threw Emily into the pool."

The Bellas all gasp and the Trebles all turn to look at Greg.

"Shut your mouth," Bumper yells.

"No," Greg said. "I'm tired of your bullying us. The pranks were always carried out by Bumper, Jesse, Donald, and Koolio. The rest of us didn't participate, but we didn't stop them either. We were afraid of them, so we kept our mouths shut."

"He's right," Mike said. "And, I'll testify to it all."

"So will I," Greg says.

Bumper makes a lunge at Greg and is suddenly on the ground holding his hand to the side of his face. Beca is standing over him with her fists clenched.

"Stay down, or I'll hit you again," Beca yells down at Bumper.

Bumper stays down. The dean has jumped up and is looking around the room at everyone. 

"Ladies," the dean says. "I can assure you that the four gentlemen primarily involved with the pranks will be kicked out of Barden. We will let the police will take care of the criminal charges. As for the other Trebles, the team will be suspended for one year, and they will not be able to compete or recruit new members. Does that meet with your satisfaction?"

"Beca," Aubrey said. "You're the new Captain. How do you feel about it?"

"Accept it, Becs," Chloe says. "They were just scared. I don't think you have to worry about them anymore."

Beca looks around at the other Bellas, and they all nodded in agreement.

"Emily?," Beca says looking at the young girl. "How do you feel about it? You were the one most hurt by the Trebles. Should we accept the expulsion of the four? And allow the remaining Trebles to be suspended from competing for a year?"

"It sounds fair to me," Emily said.

"Okay, then," Beca said. "Dean, we are satisfied with your decision. Come on girls. Let's go home."

The Bellas file out of the dean's office. Beca pulls Chloe to the side.

"Can we stop by the health clinic before we head back?," Beca said holding her hand.

"Oh, my God, Beca," Chloe said looking at Beca's swollen hand. "You really are a badass."

She looks at Beca and sees tears in her eyes; tears that she would not let fall.

"You can cry if you want," Chloe said placing a soft kiss on Beca's hand. "The fact that you held in the tears until we left the office only increases your badass points."

"I'm kind of hating you right now," Beca says as the tears finally fell down her cheek.

"No you don't," Chloe says kissing Beca's lips. "You love me. Now, let's go get that hand checked out. I have plans for it later."


	7. Epilogue

**_Beca's (Second) Freshman Year_ **

"And the winners of this year's ICCA Championship," the announcer said. "The Barden Bellas!"

They had done it. The Barden Bellas has won for the second year in a row. Captain Beca Mitchell and Co-Captain Stacie Conrad led their team onto the stage to accept the trophy. The girls were squealing and jumping up and down. Beca looked out into the crowd and found the bright blue eyes of her girlfriend. She gave her a big smile and winked at her. Chloe did the same.

The girls were back in their hotel celebrating their win. Aubrey hugged and kissed Stacie.

"Congratulations!," Aubrey said. "Beca said you came up with almost all the choreography. It was spectacular."

"Thanks, babe," Stacie said. "Beca's mixes were so good; I had to make sure the choreography was just as good."

"Well, you guys nailed it," Aubrey said and kissed Stacie again.

Over in the corner, Beca and Chloe were having their own talk.

"I owe you an apology," Beca said holding Chloe's hand in hers. "These last couple of months have been really stressful, and I know I took a lot of it out on you. I am truly sorry for that. You didn't deserve it, and I should know better."

"It's okay, really," Chloe said pulling Beca into a hug. "You forget, I was Co-Captain with Aubrey for two years. I know the stress you were under so all is forgiven."

"What did I do to deserve you?," Beca asked and gave Chloe a deep, passionate kiss.

"Wow," Chloe said pulling back from the kiss. "Do you remember what we did last year to celebrate?"

"Yes, I do," Beca said with a smile. "Only one problem. This is our room, and I don't see it being vacated any time soon."

"I'm one step ahead of you," Chloe said. "I swapped rooms with Jessica and Ashley. This is now their room. So, want to make me really happy?"

Beca grabbed Chloe's hand and made her way through the Bellas and out the door.

"Anyone else get a feeling of deja vu just now?," Emily asked, and the rest of the Bellas just laughed and continued partying.

Beca moved in with Chloe during their summer break. Chloe loved her job as a music teacher at the Middle School. Beca got a paid internship at the nearby Residual Heat recording studios. She was learning the ropes and got paid to do it. Life was good, and they were both happy and in love.

**_Beca's Sophomore Year_ **

Classes were harder, and Beca didn't seem to have any time for anything. If she wasn't in class, she was in Bellas rehearsals, or at Residual Heat, or trying to find time to spend with Chloe.

There was quite a bit of tension between the two as the holidays approached. Beca wanted to go see her mom during her Winter Break and Chloe wanted to visit her parents in Tampa and she wanted Beca to go with her. This brought about many arguments and one really big fight. Beca felt so bad about the fight that she gave the girls the afternoon off from practice so she could surprise Chloe at school. Chloe had been asked to help with the music for the Christmas program her school was having and that meant staying after for rehearsals.

Beca walked into the school and headed for the Auditorium. She was holding some flowers she had bought Chloe as an apology as she walked in. Chloe had her back to Beca so Beca decided to sneak up on her. She walked down the aisle and was just about a foot away, just to the right of Chloe, when a woman slid behind Chloe from her left and wrapped her arms around Chloe's waist, pulling Chloe tightly to her. Chloe pulled away from the woman.

"Lainie, I told you I wasn't inter-" Chloe started and stopped when she saw Beca standing there, hurt and pain etched on her face.

"Beca, no," Chloe said immediately going over to grab her girlfriend. "This is not what you think. Lainie keeps hitting on me and I've told her to stop."

Beca looks at Chloe and Chloe grabs her into a hug.

"I'm sorry, baby," Chloe says.

Beca just takes Chloe's arms off her and pushes her to the side. She walks over to Lainie, who had just been standing there with a smirk on her face. She gets right in the woman's face and the woman did look slightly frightened but held her ground.

"Touch my girlfriend again," Beca says staring into the other woman's eyes. "And when I'm through with you, they won't be able to identify you with dental records."

"You don't scare me," Lainie said.

Beca made a move toward the woman and Chloe grabbed her from behind.

"She's not worth it," Chloe said as she pulled Beca away.

"You didn't have a problem with it when I kissed you," Lainie says to Chloe.

"You kissed her?," Beca said turning to Chloe.

"She kissed me," Chloe said. "I  **did not** kiss her."

"You didn't think that was something I should have been made aware of?," Beca asked looking at Chloe.

"She liked it," Lainie said with a smirk seeing this was getting to Beca. "She kissed me back."

Beca just looked at Chloe and Chloe could Beca shutting down.

"No, Beca," Chloe said grabbing Beca's arm. "That's not true. I swear to you, I did not kiss her back. She kissed me and it surprised me so it took me a few seconds to push her off me. I guess she must have thought I was into it. I swear to you, Beca, I did not kiss her back. I didn't want it and I should have told you about it when it happened. But, I didn't want you to do something stupid so I just decided to forget about it."

Beca could see Chloe was being honest with her. She pulled Chloe into a hug.

"I believe you," Beca whispered.

Chloe let out the breath she had been holding and pulled Beca in tighter. Beca pulled away from Chloe and looked at Lainie.

"Like I said," Beca told the woman. "Mess with her again and you will regret it."

Lainie visibly swallowed and looked scared. She shifted her weight and looked around.

"She wasn't that great a kisser anyway," Lainie finally said and walked off.

Beca laughed and pulled Chloe to her.

"Are you okay?," Chloe asked. "Are we okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay," Beca said. "I bought these for you."

Beca handed the roses to Chloe. Chloe kissed her.

"What did I do to deserve these?," Chloe asked.

"I wanted to apologize for our argument earlier," Beca said. "I was being stubborn and selfish. So, I thought of a compromise. We can visit your folks for Christmas and then go to my mom's  for Spring Break. I already called her and she was okay with it."

"I love you," Chloe said. "And I'm sorry about everything. The fight. Lainie. Not telling you about the kiss."

"I love you, too," Beca said. "Just next time something like that happens, tell me. I'll be mad but it's better to hear it from you than someone else. Okay?"

"Okay," Chloe said. "Let's go home."

Beca and Chloe made it over this bump in their relationship and came out stronger than ever. Beca didn't go off the deep end when they made it to the ICCAs again. The Bellas won and it was a bittersweet moment for Beca. The girls she had originally joined the Bellas with were Seniors and would be graduating this year. She was beyond elated when Stacie told her she was going to be a graduate student at Barden and she could still be a Bella.

**_Beca's Junior Year_ **

Beca, Stacie, and Emily were the only Bellas left from the Championship winning team. They held auditions and had so many girls trying out to be a Bella it was hard to narrow it down to just seven. After much bickering and arguing they finally chose seven new girls.

The seven new girls proved to be a handful to Beca and Stacie. They all wanted to be the stars of the routine and they all thought they knew how to dance and didn't want to listen to Stacie. Beca had finally had enough and threatened to kick them all out of the Bellas and find new girls who actually wanted to be a part of the team. That shut them up quick and they fell in line. They won the ICCAs again but just barely. The Trebles suspension was over and they were able to compete. They had come very close to beating the Bellas.

Beca got a promotion at Residual Heat and was solo producing her first album with a new group the studio had signed. She was busy all summer with the project so she and Chloe didn't get a chance to go anywhere together for a vacation. Chloe did fly home to visit her folks and Beca realized she needed to manage her time better. Beca told the group that she was making a schedule and they were going to stick to it. She wasn't going to be in the studio all night long because they couldn't get their act together. It took a week but she finally managed to start getting home at a decent hour. Chloe was very happy about that.

**_Beca's Senior Year_ **

Beca and Stacie only had to replace Emily on the Bellas this year since Emily had graduated and moved to L.A. to pursue a music career. They found a girl who could sing and beatbox like nobody's business. Rehearsals started and the girls were eagerly anticipating a friendly battle with the new Trebles.

Beca told Stacie she was ready to propose to Chloe but she couldn't figure out how or even when she should do it. Stacie told Beca she was ready to propose to Aubrey. The two came up with a plan to do a double proposal. They enlisted the Bellas and the Trebles to help them. They also got the old Bellas to come back as well. The Bellas and Trebles made it to the ICCAs again and Beca convinced Chloe to come to New York to watch them since it was Beca's last hurrah. Stacie invited Aubrey as well, using a mini-Bellas reunion to convince her.

The night of the ICCAs is here, and Beca and Stacie are nervous. They weren't nervous about the competition; they were nervous about their proposals. The Bellas edged out the Trebles and won again for the fourth year in a row. The celebration was once again being held in Beca and Chloe's room. Beca and Chloe, and Stacie and Aubrey, were the last to arrive for the party because Beca and Stacie had to stay back to be interviewed by John and Gail for their  _ Let's Talk A Cappella _ radio broadcast. They asked Chloe and Aubrey to wait for them.

After the interview, the four girls make it back to their hotel. Beca shoots a quick text to the others to let them know they are getting on the elevator. The girls step off the elevator on their floor to find the old Bellas lined up waiting for them. They all squealed and hugged each other. Suddenly, they move to join the new Bellas and the Trebles who were lined up as couples down the hallway. They started humming softly, and the couples start dancing together in a slow dance. Chloe and Aubrey look at each other in confusion. Beca and Stacie joined the group, standing side by side in front of the old Bellas. The humming becomes more melodic and sounds like an orchestra as each member "played" their instrument.

"Becs," Chloe says. "What's going on?"

Beca just smiles at her and starts to sing.

**_Beca_ **

_ My love, there's only you in my life _ _   
_ _ The only thing that's bright _

**_Stacie_ **

_ My first love, _ __   
_ You're every breath that I take _ _   
_ __ You're every step I make

**_Beca and Stacie_ **

_ And I, I want to share _ __   
_ All my love with you _ _   
_ __ No one else will do

_ And your eyes, your eyes, your eyes _ __   
_ They tell me how much you care _ __   
_ Ooh yes, _ __   
_ You will always be _ _   
_ __ My endless love

Chloe puts her hand to her mouth, and Aubrey wipes away a tear. Both girls stand transfixed, watching their girls sing to them.

**_Beca_ **

_ Two hearts, _ __   
_ Two hearts that beat as one _ _   
_ __ Our lives have just begun

**_Stacie_ **

_ Forever (Oh) _ __   
_ I'll hold you close in my arms _ _   
_ __ I can't resist your charms

**_Beca_ **

_ And love, oh love _ __   
_ I'll be a fool, for you I'm sure _ _   
_ __ You know I don't mind (Oh)

**_Stacie_ **

_ You know I don't mind _

**_Beca and Stacie_ **

_ 'Cause you, _ __   
_ You mean the world to me (Oh) _ __   
_ I know, I know _ __   
_ I've found, I've found in you _ _   
_ __ My endless love

**_Trebles and Bellas_ **

_ Ohh _ __   
_ Boom, boom, _ __   
_ Boom, boom, boom boom, boom, _ _   
_ __ Boom, boom, boom boom

**_Beca and Stacie_ **

_ Oh, and love oh, love _ __   
_ I'll be that fool for you I'm sure, _ __   
_ You know I don't mind _ _   
_ __ Oh, you know I don't mind

Beca and Stacie are each handed a bouquet of roses and a box. They continue to sing and start walking forward to stand in front of Chloe and Aubrey. They are both holding one hand behind their backs.

**_Beca and Stacie_ **

_ And, yes _ __   
_ You'll be the only one _ __   
_ 'Cause no one can deny _ __   
_ This love I have inside _ __   
_ And I'll give it all to you _ __   
_ My love, my love, my love _ _   
_ __ My endless love

Chloe and Aubrey both have tears streaming down their faces now. Chloe reaches and grabs Beca's face with both her hands and pulls her into a kiss. Aubrey does the same to Stacie.

"Becs," Chloe whispers pulling back from the kiss. "That was beautiful. I love you."

"I love you, too," Beca says as similar sentiments are shared between Stacie and Aubrey.

Beca glances over at Stacie and Stace smiles and nods her head. They both hand the flowers they were holding to their girlfriends. They grabbed their other hand and got down on one knee. Chloe and Aubrey both gasp and fresh tears fall.

"Chloe," Beca says pulling the opened ring box from behind her back.

"Aubrey," Stacie says, also holding out an opened ring box.

"You truly are my endless love. My soulmate, my one and only. I can't imagine a day without you in my life. Will you marry me?," Beca and Stacie say together and look up at their respective partners.

Simultaneous yeses can be heard, and the Bellas and Trebles start cheering and clapping. Beca and Stacie stand and put the engagement rings on their fiances' fingers and pull them into a kiss. The Bellas and Trebles rush over to congratulate the two couples.

Chloe and Aubrey look at each other and squeal, "Double wedding!"

**_Fifteen Months Later_ **

The wedding was starting, and Aubrey was the first to walk out. Her father, dressed in his formal military uniform, walked her down the aisle. Her wedding gown was a floor-length, off-white silk dress, with a halter neck. Her hair was pinned up in a loose bun to show off her neck and shoulders. Her father kissed her on the cheek before leaving her at the altar.

Next came Chloe, being walked down the aisle by her father. Chloe's gown was made of the same off-white silk as Aubrey's. Chloe's dress had a bustier type bodice and a longer train. Her father also kissed her on the cheek and left her at the altar.

Aubrey watched the door as Stacie, and her father stepped through. They started down the aisle toward Aubrey. Stacie had opted for a more traditional wedding gown made of white lace. Small pearls were sewn all over the bodice. Her father kissed her on the cheek and handed her off to Aubrey.

Chloe sucked in a breath and turned to watch the door she knew that Beca would soon be coming through. The doors opened, and Beca stepped through on the arm of her mother. Beca stopped, and her mother looked at her.

"You okay?," Sally asked.

"She's so beautiful," Beca whispered staring at Chloe.

"Why don't we keep moving so you can tell her," Sally said gently pulling Beca to start walking again.

A tear slowly made its way down Beca's face as she smiled at Chloe. They stared into each other's eyes as Beca made her way to the altar. Chloe's eyes were glistening with her own unshed tears.

Beca's mom gives her a hug and a kiss on the cheek as she handed Beca off to Chloe. Once Beca was standing and facing Chloe she leaned her forehead on Chloe's.

"You look so beautiful," Beca whispered.

"So, do you," Chloe whispered back.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the officiant began. "We are gathered here today to join these two couples in holy matrimony."

The wedding continued, and each couple said their vows and exchanged rings. The officiant pronounced them married and both couples turned to walk back down the aisle. Stacie and Aubrey's dads walked behind them, while Chloe's dad and Beca's mom walked behind them.

The reception was in full swing when the Bellas and Trebles surprised the couple with a song and dance number. Stacie's parents had paid for the wedding for both couples so they wouldn't have to dip into their savings since both were saving to buy their own houses. Chloe and Aubrey's parents, and Beca's mom, each gave their daughters $5,000 to put toward their house funds.

The two couples went on their honeymoons together. They also lived in the same apartment building and were looking to buy a house in the same neighborhood. They were best friends and wanted to be close to each other.

Beca was promoted to a full producer and was making a name for herself. She received a nomination for a Grammy which helped the studio bring in some bigger names. With the promotion came more money, so she and Chloe were becoming quite comfortable and were able to start looking for a house sooner than they thought.

Chloe was still teaching music at the Middle School and was also the Assistant Vice Principal. She loved her kids, and she and Beca had started talking about having kids of their own. They were still discussing on whether they wanted to do IVF or adopt. They were both excited and didn't care how they became parents; they just wanted to become parents.

Beca was coming out of the studio one day and saw a small German Shepherd pup that looked like it had been abandoned. She picked her up and took her to a vet. She didn't have a chip or any other way to locate her owner, so Beca took her home with her. She and Chloe named her Bee and Chloe bought her a plaid collar for her to wear until she grew into the one Chloe had kept from the original Bee.

Stacie was working at Barden University, teaching a Bioengineering class as well as working with one of the Professors on a research project. When the project is done, she would be a co-author on the paper she was also helping the professor write. She loved her job and couldn't wait to see her paper published.

Aubrey graduated from Harvard law school and moved back to Barden just before she and Stacie got married. She was working as a paralegal while she studied for the Georgia bar exam. She and Stacie were talking about having children but wanted to wait until after Aubrey passed the bar.

About a year after their weddings, both couples found their dream houses and bought them. They were not only in the same neighborhood, but they were only a few doors down from each other.

Best friends forever was more than just a saying to them. It was their way of life.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song used: Endless Love written by Lionel Richie.
> 
> Well, that's it guys and gals. Hope you enjoyed it. Until next time, stay awesome nerds!


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